Designed as a training film circa 1988, “Air Force Now: Flying Safety” opens with a jet fighter losing control and the pilot ejecting moments before the aircraft crashes into a fiery ball of flame. That scene is followed by several other examples of aircraft catastrophes as helicopters and airplanes are shown diving to the ground. Amidst images of the wreckage, the narrator explains at mark 01:47 how military aircraft fatalities were first recorded in 1908 and continue to the modern day. Causes include inexperienced pilots and mechanical failure, we are told, and at mark 02:15 watch as pilots at Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino County, California, participate in a flying safety class. As they view crash footage, we learn how they are taught various skills needed to bring an aircraft down safely and keep accident rates low. The officers learn proper investigation techniques of a crash site as one of the instructors explains near mark 03:30 how “all of those broken parts need to be treated with a great deal of respect because they’re like fingerprints. They each have some sort of a story to tell.” As the film continues a medical officer explains how pilots can lose consciousness without any warning, and so pilots undergo rigorous training so their bodies can ward off such an event, as a pilot is shown being whirled about inside a human centrifuge at mark 05:05. The ultimate goal of the Flying Safety Program, we’re told at mark 06:35, is to save lives and avoid disasters. Such efforts have proven successful, the narrator continues, explaining that Air Force accident rates have dramatically decreases. Safety measures in the air are similar to safety measures on the ground — specifically in the handling of a motorcycle — with pilots shown out on a riding range at March Air Force Base in Riverside, California. At mark 12:04, the film pauses to remember the 15th anniversary of Operation Homecoming, the return of 591 American prisoners of war held by North Vietnam at the end of the Vietnam War, with interviews of some of the released servicemen. The film nears its end at mark 15:30 with scenes in front of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C.

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com