US House to Hold Hearing on Aviation Safety

Photo by Joshua Sukoff on Unsplash

The FAA is up for a vote. By September 30^th, the US Congress must vote to reauthorize the federal agency. While the existence of the FAA is in no danger, reforms may be coming.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will be holding a hearing entitled “Enhancing America’s Gold Standard in Aviation Safety”.

Recent Aviation Safety Issues

The issue of aviation safety has been in the news lately. A disaster was recently averted in Austin, Texas, when a FedEx cargo plane almost landed on a Southwest passenger jet. The event was a mere 75 feet away from being the worst crash in decades.

This event follows another near-collision at JFK Airport in January. According to the FAA, a Boeing 737 operated by Delta had to stop its takeoff roll after a Boeing 777 operated by American Airlines crossed its path.

Events like these take place in the shadow of the two Boeing 737 MAX crashes that resulted in the death of 376 people. A popular Netflix expose documentary “Downfall” was made about that incident and revealed the gross negligence to the public.

Meanwhile, a recent computer outage revealed the cyber vulnerabilities of our system. The outage led to the first national groundstop since 9/11. Over ten-thousand flights were affected.

Who Will Be at the Congressional Hearing?

On February 7^th, the following people are expected to be witnesses for the House committee:

• Air Line Pilots Association President Jason Ambrosi

• National Business Aviation Association CEO Ed Bolen

• Associate FAA Administrator for Aviation Safety David Boulter

• General Aviation Manufacturers Association CEO Pete Bunce

• NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy