WASHINGTON, D.C. — At today’s Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing, Chair Maria Cantwell (D-WA) marked the two-year anniversary of the deadly Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash:

“I want to take a moment to acknowledge what is really a solemn milestone. Today marks the two-year anniversary of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash, and we honor and remember the 157 victims and their families, along with 189 lives lost on the Lion Air Flight 610. These tragedies remind us that there is still much at stake in aviation safety policy.

In December, Congress passed important safety reform legislation, and these comprehensive safety reform laws now must be implemented by the FAA. It requires this disclosure of new and novel systems and requires those systems like MCAS to be fully vetted by the FAA. The new law also requires manufacturers to adopt safety management systems, create safe reporting structures, and make sure that new whistleblower protections are in place.

I'm grateful to the families for their tireless advocacy in this effort and clearly for the great work that our committee did in trying to address the crisis.”

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