Tancredo Calls for FAA & NTSB Replacements

Tancredo Calls for FAA & NTSB Replacements

Congressman Cites Failure to Act Responsible for Hundreds of Deaths

Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO) in a letter today called for the Bush Administration to replace Ms. Marion C. Blakey as Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Mr. Mark V. Rosenker as Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

"As far back as the spring of 2005, I asked the FAA to ‘ground' the Mitsubishi MU-2 series aircraft due to its shockingly high accident rate," said Tancredo. "Because [they] have consistently failed to take appropriate action on this issue despite repeated warnings about the aircrafts suitability for use, I believe the public would be well served if they were replaced by administrators willing to act swiftly and deliberately on this matter."

Conservative estimates indicate that as many as one-quarter of the aircraft produced have crashed, resulting in the deaths of more than 250 people in nearly 200 separate incidents in the U.S. alone.

In lieu of grounding the aircraft until the NTSB could perform a thorough investigation into the airworthiness of the MU-2, the FAA agreed to mandate a ‘type-rating' to weed out unskilled pilots. Instead, the FAA decided to implement an SFAR (Special Federal Aviation Regulation) mandating additional periodic training of MU-2 pilots.

There have been three fatal crashes since the FAA's decision, and yet no new regulation has been put in place.

http://tancredo.house.gov/press/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=1225