Thu, Feb 04, 2010
Calls FAA Response Non-Constructive
The Coalition of Airline Pilots
Associations (CAPA) said Wednesday it has reviewed the findings of
the NTSB report on the Continental Express Flight 3407 crash in
Buffalo last February 2009, and called for "immediate action" to
address serious safety concerns including pilot fatigue, pilot
training, and inadequate pilot experience; all of which were all
cited as contributing factors to the crash in Buffalo.
In a news release, CAPA said: "The FAA has been woefully
unresponsive with needed regulatory change. 30 years after the Air
Florida crash in Washington, DC, nothing has been done to address
aircraft anti-ice and de-icing training. 20 years after the NTSB
placed "pilot fatigue" it on its' "Most Wanted List", nothing has
been done. And recently, FAA Administrator Babbitt postponed,
yet again, the release of its NPRM on fatigue, originally promised
prior to the end of 2009. This lack of response is due to the FAA's
inability to separate special interests from the need to reform
flight safety issues.
The serious deterioration of pilot hiring qualifications in jet
transport aircraft has been apparent within the airline industry
for many years. Yet, it took the tragic crash of Continental
3407 to awaken the FAA to this glaring issue. The professional
airline pilots of CAPA feel that the FAA's proposed solutions as
outlined in last weeks' "Call to Action Report" are seriously
deficient. CAPA believes that this latest NTSB report will also go
unheeded, and yet again nothing of substance will be done to
address the safety issues that were identified days after the fatal
crash of flight 3407."
"The FAA Administrator's clearly stated intent to accept this
current degradation in pilot experience and turn our airline's
cockpits into an "on the job training" environment is in clear
opposition to 20 years of industry progress in Crew Resource and
Cockpit Safety Management Programs", said CAPA President Paul
Onorato.
CAPS says that, absent a "constructive response" from the FAA, it
is up to Congress to legislate the necessary changes needed to
ensure the safety of the traveling public.
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