President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Aviation Administration is facing tough questions about safety in the wake of January’s deadly midair collision and a string of other crashes and near misses since then
ByLEAH ASKARINAM Associated Press and JOSH FUNK Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Aviation Administration is facing tough questions about safety during a hearing Wednesday in the wake of January’s deadly midair collision and a string of other crashes and near misses since then.
Much of the industry, including the major airlines and their trade groups, supports Bryan Bedford’s nomination. But pilots unions and Democrats have raised concerns that he might weaken pilot training standards.
Bedford has been CEO of regional airline Republic Airways since 1999 and has more than three decades of experience in the industry. He has pledged to make safety the FAA’s top priority and work to restore public confidence in flying. Bedford also said he’ll work with Congress on Trump’s multi-billion-dollar plan to overhaul the nation’s air traffic control system.
The National Transportation Safety Board has said the FAA should have acted before the crash in Washington, D.C., because there had been 85 near misses reported around Ronald Reagan National Airport in the years before the disaster. The FAA has since banned some helicopter routes to make sure helicopters and planes no longer share the same airspace, but there have still been additional near misses in recent months.
FAA’s acting administrator and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy have acknowledged the FAA’s shortcomings in not recognizing the risk and pledged to review all the agency’s data to identify any similar concerns nationwide about helicopter traffic near airports. That review prompted the agency to put new limits on helicopter flights around Las Vegas’ airport.
Even the air traffic controllers union backed Bedfo