On six-year anniversary of Flight 3407 crash, Collins, Higgins, Slaughter lead letter to ensure continued aviation safety

Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY-27), Rep. Brian Higgins (D-NY-26) and Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY-25) today released the following statements after leading a letter sent to Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Rep. Bill Shuster and Ranking Member Rep. Peter DeFazio asking to retain the safety standards put in place after the crash of Flight 3407.

"Six years later, the crash of Flight 3407 still weighs heavy on our community," Collins said. "Through the tireless advocacy of the families of Flight 3407, significant reforms have been made to achieve one level of aviation safety for consumers. However, the fight is not over. It is vital we maintain the hard-fought improvements in airline safety standards that we have won, while fighting for implementation of a pilots record database and other safety items."

"Over the last six years, the families of Flight 3407 have banded together, as a new family, to give others what their loved ones didn't have: a safe flight home," Higgins said. "The flying public is better protected today because of their work, and we will continue to fight with them to keep it that way."

"I am so grateful to the Flight 3407 families who have fought and persevered to get new safety standards put in place so that other families would not experience the pain that they have felt," Slaughter said. "It would be unconscionable for the FAA to cave to industry pressure and roll back these safety standards, which guarantee that every pilot, whether regional or commercial, is well-trained and well-rested before transporting our loved ones through the air."

The bipartisan letter signed by 21 members urges Shuster and DeFazio to continue to support the implementation of the Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010 (PL.111-216) and resist pressure to undermine the enacted provisions as the committee considers reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration. Additionally, the letter asks for one of the remaining provisions from the 2010 law, the pilot records database, to be established without further delay.

The full text of the letter can be read here (PDF).