New FAA Crew Rest Rules Tied Up In Administrative Review

One of the outcomes of the 2009 crash of Colgan Air 3407 near Buffalo was tighter regulations covering crew rest for airlines. The NTSB ruled fatigue was a secondary factor in the accident, FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt announced an update to the rules was a personal priority, Congress ordered the FAA to make the update, and the FAA complied. But the new rules are mired in review at the Office of Management and Budget.

MyFoxDC.com reports that a half-dozen members of families who lost loved ones in the 3407 crash (file photo of similar plane shown courtesy Wikipedia) have met with officials of the OMB to urge quicker review and adoption of the new rules. John Kausner, who lost his daughter Ellyce in the crash, told reporters he's also going to the top with his lobbying. "We're asking the President to use his influence in the administrative branch to move this forward."

Kevin Kuwik, whose girlfriend Lorin Maurer died in the crash, noted the pilots can be clearly heard yawning in audio from the cockpit voice recorder.

Steve Lott, a spokesman for the Air Transport Association, tells MyFoxDC the airlines are OK with changes, "But we must do it based on science, based on data, based on operational experience. Right now the current proposal does none of that."

It's not clear crew rest quotas would have had any effect on fatigue in the 3407 case. Captain Marvin Renslow lived in Florida, First Officer Rebecca Lynne Shaw in Washington state, but both were based at Newark. Babbitt has noted that no mandatory amount of crew rest time will help if crews spend their time off commuting, rather than getting enough sleep.

FMI: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colgan_Air_Flight_3407