Straighten Up and Fly Right : Pena pushes for new safety rules for commuter airplanes, and the FAA gets the message
On the heels of two fatal accidents last year involving American Eagle commuter planes, U.S. Transportation Secretary Federico Pena directed his agency to rewrite safety and operating procedures for airlines that use passenger craft with 10 to 30 seats. Now, within 100 days of when he first promised change, Pena has released 343 pages of complex new rules that federal aviation officials say will save lives by preventing as many as 100 accidents over the next decade.
The proposed changes, supported by both the pilots and regional airline associations, would curtail flying time for commuter airline pilots, improve pilot training and mandate certification for airline support personnel. Additional requirements would include much-needed safety equipment that includes weather radar and an on-board apparatus for de-icing wings.
In 1994, commuter planes carried nearly 58 million people--12% of U.S. air passengers, up from 11 million in 1978, the year of airline deregulation. The FAA estimates commuter air travelers will top the 100-million mark within a decade. The regulatory overhaul will bring standards for these aircraft closer to rules for larger planes, and closer to what people in the business call the “single safety standard.”
Safety advocates have long maintained that commuter airlines should be subject to more stringent rules. But as has been the case with too many safety issues over the years, the urgency was lost on the FAA, which moved lethargically until tragedy struck. Only after two multiple-fatality crashes last year--one in Indiana that and another in North Carolina--and a drop in public confidence was the reform process speeded up. Pena is now moving the FAA in the right direction. Because the proposed regulations are subject to hearings and a comment period, Pena must keep prodding to ensure they are implemented. But for now, it looks as if someone’s listening at the FAA, for the first time in a long time.
