Senate tries to use passenger rights provisions to sweeten a $44Billion boondoggle.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Senate tries to use passenger rights provisions to sweeten a $44Billion boondoggle.


Contact: Our Airspace
Director Heather Wolf (917)355-6640
Contact@ourairspace.org

Dec 16 2009 New York-

Essential policy changes needed to protect passenger safety and flyers rights need to be raised immediately as stand alone legislation, not buried in a controversial bill which will waste taxpayer dollars, increase the deficit and erode environmental protections.

Rather than passing much needed stand-alone legislation immediately, Congress chose to embed some critical passenger rights and safety provisions in a massive spending bill which increases discretionary spending to 44 billion for the Federal Aviation Administration(FAA), an agency plagued by mismanagement, cost overruns, while failing to deliver on safety.

This Senate bill (S1451), and its House counterpart (H.R. 915 –passed 277-136) constitute the largest funding increase in the history of the FAA. Fast-tracking the bill does not allow congress the time to write in enough protections to stop fraud, abuse, mismanagement at the FAA nor addresses all of the longstanding safety issues the National Transportation Safety Bureau (NTSB) has raised.

“The Senate bill does include some useful provisions but it is months away from rectifying all longstanding critical safety hazards, and it does not safeguard taxpayer investment,“ said Heather Wolf, Director of Our Airspace, “lawmakers seeking to fast-track the legislation before the new year do so at an extreme disservice to the taxpayer and to the flying public.”

FAA FLIES FAST AND EASY WITH TAXPAYER DOLLARS

The FAA does not adhere to accounting standards according to governmental audits. Their multi-billion dollar high risk project Next Gen runs more than 10 years behind schedule, over budget by billions, and is being implemented without a cost benefit analysis according to a recent OIG audit.

The FAA is also currently under investigation by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation (OIG) over misuse of over 1 billion in Economic Stimulus Package funding supplied to the AIP program, which wins 12.3 Billion with the proposed legislation, a 3-fold increase.

“Now is no time to award FAA with a blank 44 billion dollar check,” says Wolf, “the Senate Finance Committee is rightly hesitant about fast-tracking this bill to the floor for passage before the new year.”


STAND-ALONE LEGISLATION IS NEEDED NOW

FAA must be made to significantly strengthen regulations on aircraft icing, pilot training, pilot and controller fatigue and bird strike. The FAA has been ignoring NTSB scientific findings for many years, even in the face of two recent commercial aviation disasters which were caused in part by the risks clearly outlined by the NTSB. Passengers also need rights. They should also not be held captive for hours or days without food and water on tarmacs. Congress must hold the FAA accountable.

“We urge congress to immediately pass critical safety and passenger rights as stand alone legislation, and stop fast-tracking S.1451 so that Congress can fully rectify many of the longstanding and unacceptable issues at the FAA.” said Wolf.

Read more information about FAA Safety, and the environment at http://www.ourairspace.org


REFERENCES & FURTHER READING BY TOPIC

Senate Bill Cost and overview
http://www.washingtonwatch.com/bills/show/111_SN_1451.html
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-1451
House Bill (Passed in House mostly partisan)
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h915/show
http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=10096&sequence=0&from=6
OIG Audit of subcontractor Relationships
http://www.oig.dot.gov/StreamFile?file=/data/pdfdocs/av2002068.pdf
OIG Audit of FAA Accounting
http://www.oig.dot.gov/StreamFile?file=/data/pdfdocs/av1998113.pdf

Notice of FAA Accounting Audit Failure

http://www.eaa153.org/Apr07Newsletter.pdf
Governmental Oversight Audit of FAA Safety Failure
http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/broken_government/articles/entry/1021/
NTSB Reports on FAA Failure to address longstanding safety
http://www.ntsb.gov/aviation/aviation.htm
FAA failure on Icing
http://ourairspace.org/Risk-Icing.html
Hidden FAA Safety and Environmental Risks of Next Gen Procedures
http://ourairspace.org/cda.html

WABC NEWS uncovers unsafe Procedures at Newark Airport

(See below for Internet Links for documents discussed in this story.)
NEW JERSEY (WABC) -- Just when you thought it was safe to fly again, an Eyewitness News investigation uncovers dangerous flight procedures at Newark Airport. They are procedures that some say increase the risk of a crash.
A whistleblower's actions have lead to a startling new government report about near collisions. The air traffic controller knew the landing procedures were unsafe, and he wasn't going to stop fighting to get them changed even if it risked his career.
He believed there were lives at stake. It appears now that he was right.
Newark air traffic controller Ray Adams knew instinctively that landing planes on intersecting runways at the same time carried enormous risks, but when the FAA failed to agree, he turned to Eyewitness News to make his case.
"All we're asking for is the FAA to assist us in doing our jobs," he said. "It's our mandate to keep airplanes from colliding."
The two separate landing procedures continued at Newark, as did the close calls.
"I'd say it was real close," air traffic controller Phil Wagner said. "The closest I've ever seen."
Wagner will never forget the day he nearly witnessed two commercial jets collide as they prepared to land on intersecting runways at Newark. Strong winds forced one of the planes to abort its landing, sending it directly into the path of a passenger filled jet landing on the other runway.
"They are heading right for each other at that point," Wagner said.
Fearing the worst, Adams refused to give up. He says the FAA, more focused on capacity than safety, tried to silence him.
"They tried to silence me a couple of different ways," he said. "They made the environment hostile at the control tower for me. They removed me from the building for awhile."
He is finally finding vindication in a just-released Department of Transportation Inspector General investigation. It confirms that the landing on intersecting runways at Newark airport can create "unnecessary flight hazards." The Inspector General also faults the FAA for being "slow to respond."
"The FAA was very slow to respond to Ray Adams, who has been dogged to prevent catastrophe that could have killed hundreds, if not thousands," said New Jersey Congressman Chris Smith.
In response to the Inspector General report, the FAA stopped the one landing procedure immediately.. On the other runway, landings are now staggered, but the Office of Special Counsel, which also investigated the matter, blasted the FAA for not going far enough and for allowing "a potential danger to the flying public to persist."
Adams isn't surprised.
"I've learned that change isn't easy to make in the FAA," he said.
The FAA says besides staggering planes on approach, and it also plans to add an automated system that will help air traffic controllers separate planes operating on intersecting runways. The agency plans to start that up on December 14th.
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(Copyright ©2009 WABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
OSC Press Statement: http://www.osc.gov/documents/press/2009/pr09_21.pdf
DOT 11/29 Audit: http://www.osc.gov/FY2010/Scanned/DI-07%20DI-08-2225/DI-08-2225%20Agency%20Report%20(Part%201).pdf
DOT Adams Letter: http://www.osc.gov/FY2010/Scanned/DI-07%20DI-08-2225/DI-08-2225%20Agency%20Report%20(Part%202).pdf
Adams/Congressional Letters RE 11/29 Safety: http://www.osc.gov/FY2010/Scanned/DI-07%20DI-08-2225/DI-08-2225%20WB%20comments.pdf
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Jim Hoffer <http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/bio?section=resources/inside_station/newsteam&id=5771941>
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