BUFFALO, N.Y. — U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins (NY-26) is urging the House of Representatives to approve changes that would protect current pilot training standards.
An amendment to the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill was up for a vote Wednesday. It passed 243-191. A full vote on the FAA Reauthorization package is scheduled for Thursday.
Higgins, along with U.S. Reps. Nick Langworthy (NY-23) and Claudia Tenney (NY-24), also wanted to maintain a requirement for right seat first officers or co-pilots to have 1,500 hours of flight experience.
“Implementing and protecting flight safety measures has been a 14-year fight, but it is a fight worth taking on because it means safer skies for everyone and it prevents other families from enduring the loss and pain felt by the families of Flight 3407,” Higgins said Wednesday night in a statement.
“I commend the families for their continued advocacy as well as our united bipartisan Western New York delegation and all members who saw the wisdom in supporting aviation standards which have proven to save lives.”
The current FAA authorization expires Sept. 30, a fact not lost on many Western New York families.
Local members of the Flight 3407 families group have consistently made trips to Washington, pushing pushed to preserve flight safety rules that were approved after the Clarence Center Colgan Air crash.
"Prior to the crash in February of 2009, we were of the belief that if the plane said Continental that it was operated by the national carrier. It wasn’t true," Higgins said on the House floor.
"It was operated by a regional carrier, and there were two levels of safety. One [for] the larger carriers — 1,500 hours for pilots, and [one for] the regional carriers, in the case of this flight — 750 hours. Since that change was made, commercial aviation fatalities decreased by nearly 100 percent. We ask that the 1,500-hour pilot training rule be sustained in the FAA Reauthorization bill.”
The FAA Reauthorization package will also be considered in the Senate.