Fri, Apr 07, 2006
ALPA President Capt. Duane E. Woerth
(right) issued the following statement after the U.S.
District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia issued a written
order announcing the potential public release of the cockpit voice
recorder (CVR) tape in the case of United Airlines Flight 93, the
hijacked airliner that crashed in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11,
2001.
"Pilots urge U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema to reconsider
her ruling and keep private the cockpit voice recordings of the
final moments before the hijacked Flight 93 airliner crashed.
"The families of our members who lost their lives on 9/11 have
suffered profoundly, and we firmly believe that it would violate
the privacy promises made by the government to pilots should the
cockpit voice tapes be publicly disclosed.
"For years, federal law and agency policy have sought to
carefully balance the privacy of pilots and their families with the
need for a full and fair trial. The law recognizes certain narrowly
defined circumstances where the CVR tape may be heard privately, so
long as there is no public playing. Beyond that, releasing the tape
serves no legitimate purpose that would outweigh the privacy rights
of the crew. This decision would set a dangerous precedent that
would affect the future privacy rights of all airline pilots.
"ALPA will provide any and all legal support to the families of
Flight 93's crewmembers who desire to keep the CVR private. We hope
that Judge Brinkema will protect pilots and their families and play
the recordings only in closed session, as the law requires."
ALPA represents 62,000 airline pilots at 39 carriers in the U.S.
and Canada.
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