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Rep DeSaulnier in hearing

House Passes DeSaulnier Amendments to Address Aviation Safety in Bipartisan FAA Reauthorization

September 26, 2018

Washington, DC — Today, four safety measures authored of Congressman DeSaulnier (CA-11) to help prevent runway accidents passed the U.S. House of Representatives as part of the bipartisan bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for five years. Between 2011 and 2017, the U.S. has seen an alarming 83 percent increase in runway incursions, as well as a series of high profile near misses across the country and in Congressman DeSaulnier's backyard at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 (H.R. 302) which passed the House by a vote of 398-to-23, would make necessary safety improvements, modernize airports, and improve the passenger flying experience. H.R. 302 is the first long-term reauthorization of the agency since 2012.

"Each of our amendments began with one goal in mind: to make our aviation system safer," said Congressman DeSaulnier. "While this bipartisan legislation will help provide much-needed certainty and stability for the FAA, there is more work to be done to address gaps in safety. With such an alarming number of close calls recently due to human errors, we should learn all we can from recent incidents and take action to protect the public now rather than waiting for a catastrophic accident. We are drafting legislation that will enhance aviation safety and bring the industry in line with others that proactively plan for and minimize the human factors that can contribute to an accident."

DeSaulnier's amendments included in H.R. 302 would improve the use of technology and data to support the work of pilots, air traffic controllers, and FAA safety inspectors to ensure safe landings through:

  • Better Alerts to Air Traffic Controllers: Requiring the FAA to review ways to expand and improve the use of technology that can alert air traffic controllers when an airplane is improperly aligned before landing. Following the July 7th Air Canada incident, SFO's air traffic control made changes to its use of this equipment, and this change should be explored at other airports.
  • Audible Notifications to Pilots: Assessing the benefits of equipping all aircraft with systems that provide an audible alert to pilots, notifying them of their alignments as they are nearing a runway.
  • Reducing Risks Associated with Power Outages: Protecting key systems, such as communication, navigation, and surveillance systems, from disruption caused by a power outage or other similar unforeseen circumstances. The December 29, 2017 Horizon Air taxiway landing at Pullman-Moscow airport was likely compounded by a power outage that caused the runway lights to fail, and the status of runway lights at SFO on the night of July 7th may have added to the confusion of the Air Canada pilots.
  • Improving Data Analysis for Safety: Improving the use of data for identifying safety issues and recommending action before accidents occur.

Yesterday, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) voted on the probable cause of the July 7th near miss incident at SFO and put forth safety recommendations, some of which are addressed by the amendments Congressman DeSaulnier included in H.R. 302. Additionally, Mark is drafting legislation to address other gaps in aviation safety and to analyze human factors that could contribute to near misses.

In February, DeSaulnier led a request with Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Ranking Member Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Aviation Rick Larsen (D-WA) for the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review data on safety incidents and the FAA's framework for responding to such incidents. The GAO has accepted their request, and began preliminary work this week. The final report is expected to be issued in the Spring of 2019.

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