Aviator Made Significant Contributions to Air Travel Safety
By P.A. Geddie
When Bobbie Ray Allen was born July 26, 1922, in Winnsboro, Texas, he was met with a long line of East Texas ancestry under wide open skies. He was a curious child and respectful of others while learning the importance of perseverance. He wasn’t one to shy away from life’s challenges and a hard day’s work. That commitment took him from the cotton fields of Texas to a high level position serving the United States in aviation safety.
Allen’s father was deaf and an oil field laborer and shoe cobbler. The family moved to Marshall, Texas, where his mother worked as a waitress in a small restaurant near their home. As a boy, Bobbie delivered Western Union Telegrams and later worked at a soda fountain at a local drug store and a hardware store.
He graduated from Marshall High School in 1942 and entered the Navy V-5 program at Kilgore Junior College and subsequently served as a Naval Aviator during World War II.
Allen met a nurse named Arlene Evelyn Allen in the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps in Pensacola, Florida. Having the same last name, there was a mail delivery mix-up and that’s how they met. While clearing that up, they began dating and were married November 18, 1944.
Arlene gave up her military position as was required for them to marry. The couple raised five children and watched his career take flight. After World War II, in 1952, he was recalled to duty for the Korean War where he escaped several life-threatening incidents.
As a result of the aviation knowledge and leadership skills gained in the Navy, he accepted a position as Aircraft Accident Investigator with the Civil Aeronautics Board and he quickly advanced to the leadership position of Director of the Bureau of Aviation Safety, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
Fixing safety issues was often met with roadblocks because those who were seeing the problems were afraid of repercussions or otherwise didn’t feel safe in reporting them.
In his leadership role, Allen was instrumental in establishing aircraft accident investigation methods and procedures. He led the way for the first aircraft accident investigation school in Oklahoma City and he organized the nations transition of accident investigations from the Civil Aeronautics Board to the NTSB. In 1965, Allen chaired the United States Delegation at the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Third Accident Investigation Meeting in Montreal, Canada. Two years later, he was a member of the bi-lateral negotiation group that established the framework for commercial air service between the United States and Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
In 1966, 12 years before the Aviation Safety Reporting System was launched, Allen was advocating the use of computers and the concept of non-punitive incident reporting.
In a November 1966 speech at a Flight Safety Foundation seminar in Madrid, Allen stated, “We must find a way of moving this raw material for accident prevention to the processing machine. What is it, then, that stands in the way of communicating this incident information to the appropriate governmental agency for processing? Repeatedly, when this question is asked, one hears the reply: fear — fear of litigation; fear of regulation; fear of punitive action.”
At a 1968 Southern Methodist University (SMU) speech in Dallas, Allen again spoke of using computers and transparent reporting for accident prevention.
“We intend to exploit its memory and data retrieval capabilities to the maximum extent possible, not only in after-the-fact learning from past history but in safety projections for the future. We in the Board are endeavoring to define and apply the lessons learned from accident investigations and special safety studies using to the extent possible electronic computers to identify those subtle and elusive common denominators in accident causation. In this increasingly important task, we welcome the on-going cooperative efforts of all concerned in the aviation community.”
By mid 1968, due to declining health, Allen stepped down as director, but continued efforts to overcome the industry’s reluctance to participate. In his role as Special Assistant to the Director, he dedicated much of his time promoting the project. He traveled extensively, wrote documents, gave speeches, and often communicated with industry leaders.
At the time of his retirement from the NTSB, the global aviation industry had recorded its best safety performance to date, with U.S. airlines achieving their best safety record since 1954. His work significantly contributed to the safety record in aviation, earning him a nomination for the Rockefeller Public Service Award by Charles S. Murphy, a notable advisor to U.S. presidents.
“His outstanding work has contributed significantly to the constantly improving safety record throughout the world,” Murphy said. “Devoted to duty, able to inspire, Mr. Allen is a credit to the Bureau, the Board, the Federal Service, and the Nation.”
Bobbie Allen fully retired in 1970. He died of a heart attack on November 17, 1972, in Fort Worth.
In December 1974, two years after Allen’s death at age 50, TWA Flight 514 crashed into a Virginia mountaintop. After investigators learned that similar circumstances occurred on a United Airlines flight just six weeks earlier, a scramble ensued to overcome the public’s outcry and in May 1975, the Federal Aviation Administration announced the inauguration of a confidential, non-punitive incident reporting scheme. In January 1978, final design review began of the Aviation Safety Reporting System.
The concepts Bobbie Allen envisioned and promoted spearheaded the use of flight data recorders and laid the groundwork for processes in use today that are the basis and foundation of the Aviation Safety Reporting System.
With Arlene — who passed away in 1989 — Allen also laid the groundwork for his children to carry on his work ethic and values. Those who knew him best are proud of his accomplishments and the legacy he leaves behind.
The children include Sandy, Mickey, Bill, Robert, and Patty. The five agree their father’s influence helped guide their careers and personal lives. Sandy taught and served as an elementary school counselor for more than 30 years; Mickey served in the military and worked in the hospitality industry; Bill also served in the military and spent 40 years in aerospace manufacturing; Robert received a music degree from the University of North Texas and pursued a career in casino gaming operations management; and Patty serves as the business manager for an architectural firm in Fort Worth.
Sandy says, “I was very much influenced by my dad especially by striving to be responsible and to be willing to try different things. My dad was very successful at whatever he did and that reality and his encouragement made me feel I could be successful at whatever I chose to do. He was a very positive influence on the lives of all five of us.”
Mickey agrees. “My Dad was my hero, plain and simple. He was extraordinary in so many ways. Many would say he was serious, but he was always quick to a smile, soft spoken, humble and compassionate. My siblings and I knew he had a very difficult upbringing and in spite of the many obstacles he had to overcome he achieved a great deal in his short life.”
“He and Mom brought us up with such a great set of values and they have guided and supported me throughout my life,” Robert says. “His accomplishments have always been an inspiration and a source of pride for me — an example to try to live up to and emulate.”
Sister Patty echoes all the above and says, “I carry the hope that some of his remarkable qualities live on in me.”
Middle son Bill remembers his father working patiently and skillfully on projects at home to make the family’s life better and is grateful for the front row seat he had watching those traits unfold for the good of the world.
“His humble and friendly East Texas values guided him in helping to establish the United States as the world leader in aviation safety. His ability to connect with people and relate a clear vision was instrumental in establishing air transportation as the safest form of transportation in the world.”
The sky’s the limit for the legacy of Bobbie Ray Allen.
Sources for this article include family recollections and materials, and Wikipedia references.
