Chandler seeks air safety review: HIS BILL WOULD BOOST SCRUTINY OF FAA

June 15, 2007
U.S. Rep calling for one-time assessment

Jun. 14--WASHINGTON -- Near-collisions and a lack of federal action in the 10 months after the fatal Comair crash in Lexington have prompted calls for increased scrutiny of the Federal Aviation Administration's airport safety programs.

Rep. Ben Chandler, D-Versailles, yesterday filed a bill that would require a one-time independent assessment of aviation safety-related research efforts. The bill has been sent to the House Science and Technology Committee, where Chandler sits on its space and aeronautics subcommittee.

"The Comair crash last year made it clear that improved safety measures for air-traffic controllers and pilots are desperately needed in airports throughout the United States," Chandler said in a statement. On Aug. 27, 2006, an Atlanta-bound Comair jet crashed in a field when the pilots tried to take off at Blue Grass Airport from the wrong, too-short, runway. The pilot, flight attendant and 47 passengers were killed; the co-pilot survived with severe injuries.

"It's no secret I've had some grave concerns about the FAA in particular," Chandler said yesterday. "We think this independent review will get the FAA's attention and get them to understand that there are a lot of people interested in what they do."

Chandler's legislation would require the FAA to work with the National Academies' National Research Council, an independent scientific body, to assess whether at least 16 areas of FAA safety research are well-defined, prioritized, coordinated, appropriately funded, and whether the results can be implemented "in a timely manner."

The FAA would have to deliver the report to the committee within 14 months if the bill is enacted. The legislation would also authorize $700,000 to pay for the report.

Separately, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-New York, on Monday released a letter asking the Department of Transportation's inspector general to look into the "root causes" of five in-flight near-misses in the New York area in May. "These incidents call for a broader investigation into the safety of our nation's busiest system and our ability to avoid catastrophic airline collisions," Clinton said in the letter.

Chandler's bill is, in part, a response to testimony last week before the House Transportation committee. National Transportation Safety Board chairman Mark Rosenker testified that the FAA repeatedly has failed to address problems such as human fatigue and runway incursions. Under international aviation rules, which the FAA is in the process of adopting, "incursions" are incidents of something (plane, vehicle, person) being in the wrong place on a runway or taxiway.

$1 billion on technology

FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said yesterday that the agency has spent nearly $1 billion on runway safety technology since 2000. One system, AMASS, is in the 34 busiest airports; ASDE-X, the better, newer version, is at eight and will replace AMASS. Runway status lights are being tested in Dallas and San Diego, and the FAA has published technical requirements for new in-cockpit technology that would let commercial pilots see where they are in relation to other airport traffic.

There were 330 incursions last year, 31 of them considered potentially catastrophic, including an incident last summer at Chicago's O'Hare airport when a passenger jet and a cargo jet missed each other by 35 feet, NTSB reports indicate.

However, the most serious incursions are down this year, at 11 so far, compared with 21 in the same period of 2006.

Among the serious near misses at U.S. airports this year:

n In January in Denver, a jet descended out of the clouds to find a turbo-prop plane on the runway; the landing jet pulled back up and missed the other plane by 50 feet. In a separate incident, a 737 that was taking off nearly collided with a snow plow that strayed onto its runway.

n In March in Las Vegas, a 737 had to abort a takeoff to avoid another plane; the 737 slammed on the brakes at over 100 knots and stopped safely but damaged its tires.

n Last month in San Francisco, an air-traffic controller forgot about a landing jet and cleared another jet to depart on an intersecting runway. The landing jet skidded to a halt in the middle of the intersection. The departing jet had to initiate immediate takeoff and cleared the other jet by 30 to 50 feet.

The Department of Transportation's Office of the Inspector General has investigated aviation safety many times. In May, it released a report on a rash of runway incursions last year at Chicago O'Hare, Boston Logan, Philadelphia International, and Los Angeles International airports.

The IG's office found that the FAA, airlines and airports had all taken some steps to address the problems, but the report recommended more concrete FAA actions to help throughout the system.

Staffing and fatigue

Gail Dunham, president of the National Air Disaster Alliance Foundation, which represents victims of air disasters and their families, yesterday applauded Chandler's bill. "Congress hasn't had any oversight of FAA for six years and this is really needed," she said.

Another safety advocate, William Voss, president and CEO of the Flight Safety Foundation, responded with caution. "It never hurts to take a closer look at these things, but we should be careful not to be distracted. It isn't all about future technology. ... We really need to implement the solutions we have in hand today." His group is an aviation industry-based coalition that focuses on safety.

Chandler wants to know whether the FAA is implementing ways to cope with human factors such as staffing and fatigue, "and if they're not, I want to know why."

He said he knows that there have been many previous recommendations on aviation safety. "Whatever has been happening apparently has not sufficiently gotten the attention of the FAA. It's another attempt to try to get them to take this whole issue as seriously as they possibly can take it," Chandler said.

Chandler

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