S. HRG. 109–434 AVIATION SAFETY HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON AVIATION OF THE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION NOVEMBER 17, 2005 Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation ( U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 27–672 PDF WASHINGTON : 2006 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate 0ct 09 2002 14:20 Jul 07, 2006 Jkt 027672 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 S:\WPSHR\GPO\DOCS\27672.TXT JACKF PsN: JACKF SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION TED STEVENS, Alaska, Chairman JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii, Co-Chairman CONRAD BURNS, Montana JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia TRENT LOTT, Mississippi JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine BARBARA BOXER, California GORDON H. SMITH, Oregon BILL NELSON, Florida JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada MARIA CANTWELL, Washington GEORGE ALLEN, Virginia FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey JOHN E. SUNUNU, New Hampshire E. BENJAMIN NELSON, Nebraska JIM DEMINT, South Carolina MARK PRYOR, Arkansas DAVID VITTER, Louisiana LISA J. SUTHERLAND, Republican Staff Director CHRISTINE DRAGER KURTH, Republican Deputy Staff Director DAVID RUSSELL, Republican Chief Counsel MARGARET L. CUMMISKY, Democratic Staff Director and Chief Counsel SAMUEL E. WHITEHORN, Democratic Deputy Staff Director and General Counsel LILA HARPER HELMS, Democratic Policy Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON AVIATION CONRAD BURNS, Montana, Chairman TED STEVENS, Alaska JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia, JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona Ranking TRENT LOTT, Mississippi DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine BARBARA BOXER, California GORDON H. SMITH, Oregon MARIA CANTWELL, Washington JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey GEORGE ALLEN, Virginia BILL NELSON, Florida JOHN E. SUNUNU, New Hampshire E. BENJAMIN NELSON, Nebraska JIM DEMINT, South Carolina MARK PRYOR, Arkansas (II) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 14:20 Jul 07, 2006 Jkt 027672 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\WPSHR\GPO\DOCS\27672.TXT JACKF PsN: JACKF C O N T E N T S Page Hearing held on November 17, 2005 ...................................................................... 1 Statement of Senator Burns ................................................................................... 1 Statement of Senator Lautenberg .......................................................................... 2 Statement of Senator Lott ...................................................................................... 3 Statement of Senator Rockefeller ........................................................................... 4 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 4 WITNESSES Barimo, Basil J., Vice President, Operations and Safety, Air Transport Asso- ciation of America, Inc. ........................................................................................ 43 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 45 Blakey, Hon. Marion C., Administrator, Federal Aviation Administration ........ 5 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 7 Carr, John S., President, National Air Traffic Controllers Association .............. 37 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 39 Klein, Christian A., Legislative Counsel, Aeronautical Repair Station Associa- tion ........................................................................................................................ 52 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 54 Mead, Hon. Kenneth M., Inspector General, Department of Transportation ..... 11 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 16 Roach, Jr., Robert, General Vice President, Transportation Department, Inter- national Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers ............................ 49 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 50 APPENDIX Airline Pilots Association, prepared statement ..................................................... 84 Dillingham, Gerald L., Ph.D., Director, Physical Infrastructure Issues, United States Government Accountability Office, prepared statement ....................... 67 Response to written questions submitted to Hon. Marion C. Blakey by: Hon. Daniel K. Inouye ...................................................................................... 86 Hon. Frank R. Lautenberg ............................................................................... 90 Hon. John D. Rockefeller IV ............................................................................ 88 Hon. Gordon H. Smith ..................................................................................... 85 (III) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 14:20 Jul 07, 2006 Jkt 027672 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\WPSHR\GPO\DOCS\27672.TXT JACKF PsN: JACKF VerDate 0ct 09 2002 14:20 Jul 07, 2006 Jkt 027672 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\WPSHR\GPO\DOCS\27672.TXT JACKF PsN: JACKF AVIATION SAFETY THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2005 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON AVIATION, COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION, Washington, DC. The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m. in room SD–562, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Conrad Burns, Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. CONRAD BURNS, U.S. SENATOR FROM MONTANA Senator BURNS. We will call the Committee into session this morning. The hour is here, and I know we have other Members coming. The Ranking Member, Senator Rockefeller, will be here pretty shortly, I would imagine. And I appreciate Senator Lauten- berg being here. And I think we can start with some of the opening statements and get on with the business at hand. It’s needless to say, to this group of people, who have been around Washington for a while, that when you come to the end of a session, it becomes a bear. That’s b-e-a-r. And so, I know we all have other places to be and other business to perform. And so, I appreciate your being here this morning. I’d like to thank the panel, also, everybody that will testify here today. We’re conducting this oversight hearing to examine the most important mission of this Subcommittee and of the FAA, and, of course, that’s aviation safety. We all, most of us here, fly almost daily, it seems like. When you live in Montana and work here, you feel like that you wear out airplanes and the seat of your britches. It’s not like living here among the East-Coasters, where they don’t have anywhere to go. But—— [Laughter.] Senator LAUTENBERG. We do it quickly. Senator BURNS. Yes, you do it quickly, that’s right. Currently, the U.S. commercial aviation industry is experiencing the safest period in the history of aviation. For the past 3 years, the U.S. commercial aviation industry has had less than one fatal accident per five million flights. That’s almost unbelievable. This is a staggering stat that I commend the Administrator that’s here today and Administrator Blakey and her role and leadership in— at the FAA in past years. Every time you talk to the Adminis- trator, I will tell you that safety is the number-one mission, and she’s taken that very, very seriously. (1) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 14:20 Jul 07, 2006 Jkt 027672 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\WPSHR\GPO\DOCS\27672.TXT JACKF PsN: JACKF 2 The safety workforce should also be commended for their hard work in making our skies safe. The FAA system is one of the lay- ers, but it could not be effective without the coordination of many that are in the industry, including air traffic controllers, inspectors, manufacturers, repair stations, pilots, and many others. The industry, as a whole, takes great pride in its safety record, along with the products and services that it provides. Everyone in- volved knows the stakes, and the loss of even one life is too many. This is one area where there is always room for improvement, however. We learn by experience, and we try to apply those meth- ods and new technologies to make sure that we stay where we are today. The public policy and economic necessity of public trust is—in flying—is essential to maintain the U.S. and global economy. Avia- tion is estimated to be a $1.4 trillion business globally. Here in the U.S. alone, more than 700 million people flew in 2004, with the number of passengers expected to reach one billion by the year of 2015. However, increased passenger levels, rapidly growing capacity demand, workforce challenges, aging air traffic control infrastruc- ture and financial turmoil in the commercial airline industry will prove to be a challenge to the FAA and, of course, us here, as pol- icymakers. We need to continue effective utilization of the safety workforce and the resources as we move forward. As in most any other industry, technology will play a key role in modernization of safety systems, but it is the institutional knowl- edge that