The Clock Is Ticking

Today, I joined a large group of Flight 5342 family members in returning to Capitol Hill. We held a press conference to remind Congress of the urgent need for aviation safety legislation that addresses all 50 NTSB recommendations produced by the Flight 5342 investigation.

All 50 are important, but one, recommendation A-26–31, is more important than the rest:

Require all aircraft operating in airspace where Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B) Out is required to also be equipped with ADS-B In with a cockpit display of traffic information that is configured to provide alerting audible to the pilot and/or flight crew.

This is the one that would have saved them.

It shouldn’t take a law for the FAA, airlines, and private aircraft owners to atone for The Original Sin.

But apparently it does. Even when 67 people are dead.

Nearly seven months after the NTSB delivered its recommendations, a third of those directed to the FAA, including A-26–31, are classified as “Open–Unacceptable Response.”

Meanwhile, this week is the last the House and Senate will both be in session before the midterm elections shuffle the political deck. Congress needs to act now, or we will mark the second anniversary of Flight 5342 with its root causes still unaddressed.

You can view today’s press conference in its entirety here.

If you found this interesting or moving, consider making a donation to the Christine Conrad Lane Memorial Dog Park. My wife Christine was a lifelong dog lover and dedicated volunteer for a local dog rescue nonprofit, Rhode Home Rescue.

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