Rant –
I know that our government is really “busy” right now, but isn’t air transportation safety sort of a priority with regard to an immediate threat to our human life? Forget about modifying your home loan, how about modifying the GPS system BEFORE your next flight so you don’t crash into a mountain.
Article snips –
A person born on July 17, 1996, the day that T.W.A. Flight 800 exploded off Long Island, will be old enough to earn a pilot’s license — and maybe even to work for an airline — before the hardware ordered after that crash is installed on all airplanes, in about 2016.
The safety board says there currently are 429 outstanding recommendations, of which 146 are more than five years old.
Sometimes the process is so slow that the F.A.A. persuades the airlines to solve problems outside the regulatory process. After a DC-9 operated by ValuJet crashed in the Everglades in May 1996 because of a fire in the cargo area, the F.A.A. doubted that the obvious fix — the installation of fire detection and suppression equipment — would pass muster with the White House because the cost might exceed the benefit. But following a public outcry, the airlines agreed to install the systems.
When the crew of an American Airlines plane made a navigation error on a flight from Miami to Cali, Colombia, in December 1995 and hit a mountain, the airlines agreed to equip cockpits with a GPS unit to compare the plane’s location with a database of mountains. That happened much faster than if it had been mandated by the government.
PR Advise -
Marion, oh maid Marion…was this from an interview and if so, you have to see a draft of the article so you can be perceived as giving a darn. If this is just a non-context mad lib by the author, shame on you!
“The F.A.A. generally does not simply decide what to do and issue orders, according to Marion C. Blakey, whom President George W. Bush appointed as chairwoman of the safety board and later as leader of the F.A.A. Rather, the agency plays a role that Ms. Blakey described as “honest broker,” seeking the expertise of manufacturers, airlines and academics.”
Full article –
