House OKs new pilot rules in response to Buffalo plane crash
WASHINGTON — Pilots of commuter planes operated by regional carriers would have to have at least 1,500 hours of flight experience instead of the current 250, under legislation approved overwhelmingly by the House on Wednesday.
The bill, a response to the Colgan Air flight that crashed outside Buffalo in February, passed 409-11. It also would require pilots to be trained to deal with flight emergencies. Fifty people were killed when the plane experienced an engine stall and smashed into a house.
“Being a commercial airline pilot is not an entry-level position,” Rep. Chris Lee, R-Clarence, said during Wednesday’s House floor debate. “We deserve to have them as well-trained as possible.”
Western New York Reps. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo, and Louise Slaughter, D-Fairport, also offered floor statements in support of the legislation.
An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board into the February crash revealed numerous deficiencies in regulations covering regional carriers, but the Federal Aviation Administration is not required to adopt the agency’s recommendations.
“It came to me as a surprise that the NTSB ideas were only recommendations to the FAA,” Slaughter said.
The House legislation would eliminate the possibility that the FAA will shelve those recommendations.
Instead, the FAA would have 90 days upon final enactment of the legislation to establish a national database of pilot licenses and safety records for airlines to use in deciding whether to hire a pilot who has worked for a competitor.
And the FAA would have one year to update and implement a new rule on how many hours pilots may work. This is intended to reduce pilot fatigue.
Passengers who book flights on the Internet also would be informed up front whether a flight segment is being flown by a regional partner instead of a major carrier.
Families of several of the 50 victims of February’s crash traveled to Washington to follow the House vote and thank lawmakers.
A similar Senate bill introduced by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is unlikely to pass as stand-alone legislation.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., is a co-sponsor of that bill. Its provisions probably will be inserted into an FAA reauthorization bill later this year.
Under the House-passed legislation:
How they voted
Michael A. Arcuri, D-Utica, Oneida County; Christopher Lee, R-Clarence, Erie County; Dan Maffei, D-DeWitt, Onondaga County; Eric Massa, D-Corning; and Louise Slaughter, D-Fairport, voted yes.
