WASHINGTON – Western New York Representatives Chris Lee (NY-26), Brian Higgins (NY-27), Louise Slaughter (NY-28) today sent a letter to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Randy Babbitt urging him to implement much-needed guidelines on pilot fatigue and pilot commuting. During a recent Senate hearing the FAA Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety Peggy Gilligan announced that the FAA is pushing back its deadline for releasing pilot fatigue guidelines. Gilligan also testified that the FAA will not release any guidelines related to pilot commuting.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) hearings on Flight 3407 found that both the captain and first officer of Flight 3407 experienced various levels of fatigue. Flight 3407’s captain slept in Newark’s Liberty International Airport crew lounge the night before the flight, after commuting from Tampa, Florida. The first officer commuted overnight on a FedEx cargo flight from her parents’ home in Seattle. Current FAA rules that govern flight crew rest have gone without a major overhaul for at least 40 years. In addition, the NTSB has listed these critical safety measures as one of its “most wanted” recommendations for nearly 20 years.
“The time to act is now, yet the FAA’s continued delay on important new safety rules puts passengers at risk.” said Congressman Lee. “As was the case in the Flight 3407 tragedy, pilots are often making cross-country commutes and risking the lives of hundreds of their passengers on only a few short hours of rest. The FAA needs to set guidelines regarding long commutes.”
“With each day that passes without stronger rules to protect passenger safety, lives are put at risk,” said Congressman Higgins. “The FAA is asking for patience, but nearly nine months after the Flight 3407 tragedy devastated this community and nation our patience is fading fast. The public deserves a better, timelier response.”
“If you shouldn’t get behind the wheel of a car when you’re tired, a pilot certainly shouldn’t be stepping into the cockpit of a commercial airliner when they’re exhausted,” said Congresswoman Slaughter. “We’ve seen how serious the circumstances can be when pilot fatigue affects their ability to fly which is why it’s so important that the FAA take pilot commuting into account when they implement their new guidelines.”
“Obviously if the FAA, the airlines, and the pilots are finally able to come together to revise pilot flight and duty time regulations that are over fifty years old, that will certainly be a positive to come out of our horrible loss,” stated Margie Brandquist of Leesburg, Virginia, who lost her sister Mary ‘Belle’ Pettys who was from West Seneca. “However, the fact that both pilots commuted significant distances from Seattle and Tampa in the twenty four hours prior to the flight certainly is a huge concern for us, and hopefully the FAA will re-think their decision to not address this issue in its rulemaking effort.”
The Families of Flight 3407 have chosen to use their own personal tragedy to tirelessly advocate for improved aviation safety. Lee, Higgins, and Slaughter have worked with the Families of Flight 3407 to implement a number of long overdue reforms that address aviation safety and restore passenger confidence.