WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a subcommittee hearing today on Aviation Safety: Oversight of FAA Safety Initiatives.

Witness List:

The Honorable J. Randolph Babbitt, Administrator, Federal Aviation Administration

Key Quotations from Today’s Hearing:

“Numbers alone do not reassure me that our nation’s aviation system is as safe as it could be. Nor do I believe, after the series of safety lapses we have seen over the last year, that statistics alone will reassure the millions of Americans who take to the skies every day. During this holiday season millions will fly far and wide to spend time with family and friends. The last thing they should be worrying about is their own safety.”

Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV

“This hearing examines the important issue of aviation safety and FAA’s safety initiatives. Safety has been my highest priority since I took over the aviation subcommittee, and I want to ensure the FAA is taking adequate steps to meet its safety obligations to the flying public.”

Senator Byron L. Dorgan, Chairman, U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security

“When people know that they can raise their hand and say, ‘Hey, I think there’s a problem here,’ it is then, and only then, that we are able to move forward in safety. If you have a situation where someone raises a hand and then is punished for doing so, all you have done is encourage silence. When you make silence the rule, when sweeping issues under the rug becomes the status quo, you have a recipe for disaster.”

The Honorable J. Randolph Babbitt, Administrator, Federal Aviation Administration

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