Hearing Of The Senate Committee On Commerce, Science, And Transportation - Aviation Safety: One Year After The Crash Of Flight 3407

Statement

Senator Dorgan, thank you for holding this series of hearings on regional airline safety. A year later, the lessons of the Colgan Flight 3407 accident in Buffalo still weigh heavy on our nation.

Let me begin by mentioning the tragic aviation incident that occurred last week in Austin, Texas. I think we all would like to send our thoughts and prayers to those affected by that terrible event. While the Austin incident was not an aviation "accident," the psychological effect of any aviation event like it can scar a community for several years. We were ultimately fortunate that more were not injured and I would like to personally thank all the first responders for their tremendous work.

While certainly different aviation related events, the residents of Austin, like those in Buffalo with family members aboard Flight 3407, have a heavy burden to carry. I applaud the continued activism of the family members of Flight 3407 in support of improving aviation safety and I look forward to seeing a number of needed improvements to soon come to fruition. I believe we put together a very sound aviation safety proposal in our committee reported FAA reauthorization bill based on the information provided in our previous hearings on this topic.

While I continue to have great confidence in the safety of our aviation system, it is obvious there is still room for improvement. Despite the remarkable safety record of the U.S. aviation industry, the tragic accident of Flight 3407 reminds us we must remain vigilant and aggressively work to improve upon our safety systems, especially in areas that have long challenged the industry such as fatigue, pilot training, quality of pilot experience, commuting, and professional responsibility.

The NTSB's accident report on the Colgan Flight 3407 accident has provided a good roadmap for improving our system in these difficult to manage areas. I also applaud the FAA for its "Call to Action Plan," and I am hopeful the agency can move quickly to revise and implement new flight and duty time rules for pilots. However, it is important the FAA heed the Department of Transportation Inspector General's concerns regarding the implementation of new crew rest and training rules. The FAA has put forth an aggressive agenda for which it should be commended, but they need to effectively implement and meet milestones set regarding those safety initiatives.

Thank you, Senator Dorgan; I look forward to the testimony.

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