Administrator Randy Babbitt Holds AirVenture News Conference

By Tom Patton

FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt visited the AirVenture Wednesday for a media briefing on a variety of subjects ranging from his usual memes of safety and professionalism to the capabilities of NextGen.

On the subject of GA safety, Administrator Babbitt said the accident rate is "not where I or the folks at the FAA would like them to be. We have some very ambitious goals, but the good news is they are certainly better, the trend is excellent, we're seeing constant improvement in reducing the number of accidents and the number of fatalities. But the bottom line is, we set an ambitious goal and we're not achieving that."

Babbitt said in the first six months of this year, there have been 120 fatal GA accidents, which is down 8% over last year. He said last year, amateur-built aircraft accounted for about 25% of all GA accidents, but they represent only about 10% of the aircraft in the GA fleet. Babbitt said the FAA would be looking for help from the EAA and other aviation organizations and pilots themselves to re-emphasize some of the key safety points he hopes will be adopted.

Babbitt said a large portion of the burden for safety rests with those who buy and sell the amateur-built aircraft. "It seems to always happen after the transition ... the sale of those aircraft. And so we're really making a big pitch to challenge the buyer of one of those aircraft to make certain that you get the training that you need. If you're the seller, make certain that the buyer understands they are buying a complex airplane. Often these airplanes are very sophisticated, high wing loading, higher stall speeds, things like that. All of those mean there is a need for additional training."

Which led Babbit to his pitch on professionalism. "It pertains to all aspects of flying," he said. "We can do a lot of things at the FAA. We can provide a lot of help to people in this business. but what we can't do is regulate professionalism. I can't make anybody go that extra mile. But the good news is, in this community of general aviation, the vast, vast majority of pilots ARE willing to go the extra mile (emphasis his)."

Babbitt said NextGen will change the way we fly. He said that the satellite-based system will allow pilots to fly precision approaches where "we couldn't have any dream, or there's not enough traffic, in order to justify traditional high-flight-time navigation facilities. We can't afford to put in an ILS when only 4 or 5 airplanes go there a day. But we can put a satellite approach in there. We will have the ability to give horizontal and vertical guidance to virtually any runway in this country. We don't have any equipment to maintain, we simply have to design the approach. The equipment will be in the airplane."

The administrator talked about the advantages of ADS-B as well, which led to the Q&A session. Babbitt said the satellite system will be more dependable then the traditional system, and that the number of satellites in the constellation will provide redundancy to the system. He pointed out that the current navigation and approach systems are also subject to failure. "I think the more time we spend, the more comfortable people are that satellite navigation, because of the sheer number of independent satellites, offers a great deal of redundancy."

As to the cost of the ADS-B equipment that will be required for flight in certain airspace in the near future, Babbitt said if the rate of adoption of ADS-B out is any indication, the adoption of ADS-B in will come fairly quickly. Babbitt said when he talks to people in the GA world, and they mention that they have to buy the new equipment, he responds "Do you think that you'll have the same transponder in 10 years that we have today? No. So don't buy a new transponder, buy ADS-B."

At the AeroInnovate event Tuesday evening, an ANN correspondent heard from many of those presenting ideas that one of the biggest obstacles to innovation in aviation was the certification process, and that the cost of certification was their primary reason they needed capital to get ideas off the ground. Babbitt said that, in his view, the FAA is a fairly agile agency in some areal of certification, pointing to the use of ASTM standards and self-certification in the LSA segment of the industry. "When we get into more complex areas, I hope people appreciate we're very deliberative, because people's lives depend on what we certify. And when we certify something for use all over the country in every aircraft, we don't have to think is should work, it absolutely has to work. So, yes, it's a deliberative process, but it is deliberative on purpose."

In response to a question about lead in fuel, Babbitt said the EPA is the lead agency on the issue, with the ability and the statutory authority to mandate unleaded fuel at any time. "We have asked them 'please don't get ahead of us, let us develop standards so we will have easily deliverable, safe, efficient fuel that performs just like 100LL does today, and let us get that in place'." Babbitt said he was "comfortable" that the industry will produce an alternative fuel ahead of any EPA mandate for unleaded avgas.

The number of questions was, unfortunately, limited, as a member of the local media joined the aviation press at the event, and asked a series of questions concerning the crash of Jack Roush's Premier Jet on Tuesday evening. Babbitt tried to explain that the incident was still only hours old, that the NTSB was the lead agency in the investigation, and that any possible change in safety regulations stemming from the incident would be potentially years away. While we don't in any way advocate the barring of any legitimate media representative from any event where a public official is speaking, it would be helpful if they had some inkling about the aviation industry when they show up at an aviation event.

FMI: www.faa.gov