Some of the ways athletes, parents and others can check on the safety record of the planes and the companies that fly teams around the country:
Ask the school in question for copies of any independent audits commissioned on the aviation companies it has chosen for air travel.
Ask for any safety records supplied to the school when companies bid for the contract.
Check to see if the company has asked to be audited by an aviation industry group such as the Flight Safety Foundation, which requires that an operation meet more than the minimum FAA safety standards in order to get a "Q-Star" rating. Its Web site lists the standards used for that rating; compare those to the standards used by the school's charter company.
Check with the local Better Business Bureau for complaints lodged against the company.
Ask the school for make and model of the planes it uses and the individual "tail" and serial numbers of those planes. Plug those variables into the online database of accidents and incidents at the National Transportation Safety Board Web site.
Of course, Google and other search engines also might be helpful in pulling up published articles and random data about charter companies and their planes.
Aviation expert Robert Breiling recommends common sense. Take a tour of the plane, even check in the bathrooms. "If it's dirty, stay out of it," he said. "If the crew looks sloppy, that's probably how the company's maintaining the plane."
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