NPR: Is It OK for the Government to Withhold Data?

Is It OK for the Government to Withhold Data?

After a year of refusing, NASA said this week that it will reveal the results of an aviation survey that found near collisions, runway interference and other safety problems happen far more frequently than previously believed. NASA Administrator Michael Griffin apologized to members of Congress for saying earlier that the agency had held back the survey data because it would upset travelers and hurt airline profits.

Griffin, however, called into question his own agency's research, saying that NASA doesn't consider the survey's methodology or data to have been sufficiently verified. But a non-NASA expert who worked on the study disagreed with Griffin.

If Griffin had legitimate concerns about the data, was it OK to withhold it? Or is it not a government agency's place to hold back information that would be of interest to many Americans?

9:38 AM ET | 11- 2-2007 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

Don't you think after going on eight
years of living under the corrupt regime
of Emperor Cheney it is a little naive
to wonder if it is "OK" for an executive
agency "to withhold" information?
What, do you think this government is
in any way shape or form answerable
to you, or any citizen that is not the
CEO of a major corporation?

Sent by Dave Randolph | 11:43 AM ET | 11-02-2007

Another attempt by the present administration to control the thoughts and minds of the dubious public. From the secret meetings with the energy companies and Darth Cheney, the cherry-picking of intelligence to justify the war, the Attorney General's firings for political reasons, to the latest FEMA press conference, all show how underhanded and dishonest the present administration really is.

Sent by Norm Samuelson | 12:23 PM ET | 11-02-2007

THRERE has always been things that
should have been exposed about NASA,but was withhold.THE proven weakness about NASA space equations
compared to the deepest levels is also somewhat serious.THIS topic will never be discussed in mainstream
media.

Sent by jerry a. Myers | 1:04 PM ET | 11-02-2007

It's hard to imagine an $11 million effort that fails to expose whatever "safety problems" are at stake, so in response to the results of such a well-financed study being ambiguous or misleading, I doubt that. There isn't anything technical about recording dangerous mishaps. I suppose my biggest problem is with the term "confidential commercial information", and would guess that upon having it defined my interest could only grow.

Sent by Trevor | 3:36 PM ET | 11-02-2007

Of course the data should be released, but remember, it was collected from pilots, controllers, and other relevant parties with a promised layer of anonymity (though they do give names when reporting) for the personnel and the airlines - which is why there is so much data in the first place.

These are used to improve performance, and spot trends of non-conformance or near misses and MUST NOT be used to persucute (or prosecute) the players, else the pilots and controllers fear reporting their own errors, and they get overlooked.

Panic or don't, as is your preference. I'll worry when planes start crashing all over the place.

Sent by Andrew | 3:50 PM ET | 11-02-2007

My spouse is a controller at LAX. Nearly everyday an incident occures on the runway. Rarely do the small things get reported.

However the bigger 'deals' or major close calls are on the rise as well.

Sent by ImpeachW | 4:07 AM ET | 11-03-2007

How quaint that NASA Adm. Griffin has chosen to also play the three-card-monte game - using truth instead of a pea- now so endemic in the current amoral and machiavellian Bush-Cheney axis of evil.
Interestingly, there are tens of thousands of "scrubbed and anonymous" commercial air incident reports from pilots, controllers and others listed at www.asrs.arc.nasa.gov. This website almost renders anticlimactic the report
that Griffin is trying so hard to fit into the shredder. ALMOST.

Sent by Craig Usas, MD | 12:47 PM ET | 12-13-2007

Send a Comment

Comments are reviewed and edited by NPR prior to display. All comments will be read, but not all will be posted.

NPR reserves the right to read on the air and/or publish on its Web site or in any medium now known or unknown the e-mails and letters that we receive. We may edit them for clarity or brevity and identify authors by name and location. For additional information, please consult our Terms of Use.

E-mail this Page

Recipient's e-mail address:	» Up to twelve addresses, separated by commas.
Your e-mail address:
Your name:
Personal message (optional, 600 characters max):
Your NPR member station:
Are you a member of your local NPR station?	Yes No
Would you like to receive information from your local NPR member station? (see NPR's privacy policy)	Yes No
May we contact you with information about NPR programming and services? (see NPR's privacy policy)	Yes No

(Information collected by NPR will be used solely for internal NPR or NPR member station purposes and only if you selected 'yes' above. See NPR's privacy policy for more information.)

Tom Regan

Blogger

About Us

This year's election cycle has been one of the most exciting in memory. At the NPR News Blog we'll do our best to bring you interesting, informative -- and controversial -- stories from our own reporters and bloggers, as well as the rest of the best of the Internet and blogosphere. And we hope you'll let us know what you think as well.

Want to learn more? Be sure to read our Frequently Asked Questions and our discussion guidelines.