Lawmakers seek to fix pilot fatigue, training

WASHINGTON — Members of Congress said Thursday they will try to force regional airlines to fix problems with pilot training and fatigue highlighted by an investigation into an air crash in upstate New York in February.

Rep. Jerry Costello, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s aviation subcommittee, told a hearing Thursday he’s fed up with waiting for the Federal Aviation Administration and the airline industry to act on safety recommendations. He said he will try to force action through legislation.

“I do not believe we can rely on airlines to voluntarily comply with industry best practices,” the Illinois Democrat said.

Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., said he supports Costello’s call for legislation.

“There is something wrong when we have commuter planes falling out of the sky,” said Mica, the senior Republican on the transportation committee.

The Feb. 12 crash of Continental Express Flight 3407 near Buffalo, N.Y., has turned a spotlight on safety at regional airlines, which often hire pilots with significantly less experience and pay them lower salaries than major airlines.

Regional airlines have been involved in the last six fatal airline accidents in the U.S., and pilot performance has been a factor in three of those accidents.

A National Transportation Safety Board investigation exposed a series of critical errors by Flight 3407’s captain, Marvin Renslow, and co-pilot Rebecca Shaw that preceded the crash. Their Bombardier Dash 8-Q400, a twin-engine turboprop, experienced an aerodynamic stall before plunging to the ground, killing all 49 aboard and one man in a house below.

Shaw, who was paid $23,900 a year, commuted overnight from near Seattle, where she lived with her parents, to report to work at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey on the day of the flight. It is not clear how much sleep she and Renslow — who lived near Tampa, Fla., and earned about $65,000 a year — had the night before, but they may have tried to nap in an airport crew lounge.

Dan Morgan, Colgan’s vice president for safety, said Colgan’s salaries are typical for regional airlines. He said Colgan has taken several steps to improve safety, including offering new guidance to their pilots on fatigue and creating a remedial training program for pilots who have had difficulty in training or skills tests.

The NTSB has been urging the FAA for 19 years to strengthen regulations on pilot hours to prevent fatigue. The agency proposed a new regulation in 1995, but dropped the matter after it was unable reach an agreement between pilot unions and the industry. The unions wanted to reduce the number of hours pilots can be on duty and increase time off between flights, while the industry opposed the changes.

FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt, a former airline pilot, told the panel that crafting a regulation on pilot hours is not as straightforward as it might seem because pilots often work the hardest and are under the most stress during takeoffs and landings.

“It’s one thing to fly one eight-hour leg from here to Paris. It’s another thing to fly seven hours and make 14 stops and never leave the state of Florida, and I have done that,” Babbitt said.

Babbitt and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood have scheduled a meeting Monday with airline industry and union officials to discuss safety. Babbitt said voluntary actions are the best he can do in the short term.

In an effort to cut costs, major airlines have reduced their schedules and outsourced many flights to a smaller, lower-cost regional airlines.

About 90 percent of regional airline passengers travel on flights that are scheduled, marketed, ticketed and handled by major airlines through code-share arrangements, Costello said.

John Prater, president of the Air Line Pilots Association, said “pilot pushing” — using threats of discipline, including firing, to prevent pilots from rejecting a flight because they are fatigued — is a problem at major carriers as well as regionals, although it is more common at smaller airlines. He said he would “name names” at the Monday meeting.

James May, president of the Air Transport Association, which represents many large airlines, if Prater “has any specific evidence of pilot pushing by air carriers, that ought to be put on the table.”

Morgan said Colgan doesn’t punish pilots who say they are too fatigued to fly, and neither do most other airlines.

“I don’t believe it’s anywhere near the level he seem to imply,” Morgan said.