Oversight Hears and More In Store With Legislation Galore

Democrat Senator Maria Cantwell plans to hold multiple oversight hearings in the wake of the failed Boeing door/plug from a high-profile inflight failure, touching on everything from FAA reauthorization to certification.

The FAA reauthorization bill is still going to be job one on her agenda, and she mentions that some provisions should address concerns raised by the recent failure during Alaska Airlines 1282. One would see the requirements surrounding cockpit recorders bumped to 25 hours of audio minimum, much higher than the current 2-hour norm. In the Alaska flight, post-incident responders and maintenance workers forgot to deactivate the CVR, leaving it recording on loop while parked, losing the data forever.

Cantwell plans to add legislation to push the FAA to expedite its hiring processes to replenish the traffic controller and inspector pipelines, since recent happenings have shown that those roles in the aeronautical ecosystem remain understaffed.

"We need more sunshine here,” Cantwell said. "We need to start moving towards a process where you move more aviation consumer bills without waiting every five years. When you have near misses out here and you have these things happening right now, I want the FAA to do everything they can today. The air traffic controllers, more inspectors, 25-hour recordings - all these things you can get done, and then go get more.”

FMI: www.cantwell.senate.gov