Hearings to examine improving safety across the National Airspace System.

Uh, good morning everyone. Thank you for your presence this morning. Thank you to our witnesses for joining us and Duckworth, it's been good to work with you in uh bringing this uh subcommittee's hearing to fruition. Uh, and I now call that uh subcommittee uh to order. Uh, our hearing is titled " Close Calls: Improving Safety Across the Nat- National Airspace System". Uh, we have with us today Governor Sununu. Uh, Governor Chris Sununu, President and CEO of the Airlines for America. Todd Hupley, the President and CEO of American Association of Airport Executives. Executives. James Viola, President and CEO of General Man- Aviation Manufacturers Association. And John, Jason Ambrose, President of the Airline uh, Pilots Association. Thank you for your commitment to maintaining the the safest uh air system in the world. Uh, this subcommittee, certainly I as its chairman, uh, the safety of our aviation system is our highest priority. United States has built a remarkable safety record through decades of collaboration, innovation, and commitment to learning from mistakes. Uh, but we certainly should not be complacent. Today's hearing reflects a growing concern shared by industry, government, and traveling public regarding numerous close calls we've seen in recent years across the nation. Just this past weekend, uh, at Boston Logan International Airport, a Delta Airlines flight was forced to abort its landing to and execute a go-around after an aircraft departed from an intersecting runway. While the flight landed safely and no one was injured, the incident serves again as a reminder of why continued vigil vigilance and safety improvements across the national airspace system remain essential. These incidents have occurred in a variety of different environments and different circumstances. These close calls did not become tragedies because of safety, professionals, pilots, air traffic controllers, and airport personnel responded to the dangers and our, and our saf- and our safety system worked. But, regardless of that outcome, they still remain a warning call for and a reminder that our aviation system is fragile and that we must act, FAA, the private sector, Congress should act in all ways responsible before a tragedy occurs. Today we will evaluate the trends we are seeing across the system, whether current training programs are sufficient, if aviation professionals have the tools and resources they need, and whether we are utilizing all available technologies. We will also review the steps that can be taken by Congress, by the FAA, and industry to reduce risk and improve safety. The challenges facing our aviation system are not limited to a single issue, they include runway incursions, surface safety incidents, increasing operational complexity, workforce shortages, controller staffing concerns, aging infrastructure, and the need for technology's modernization. Addressing these challenges require a system-wide approach and a commitment to continuous improvement. As we consider how to uh strengthen safety across the system, we should also evaluate how new technologies can help identify risks early. Recent reporting highlighted FAA's efforts to evaluate how artificial intelligence could assist with air traffic management, reduce congestion and support operational decision making. While these tools are not intended to replace and cannot replace the judgment of aviation personnel, they may offer new ways to identify emerging risks, improve situational awareness, and increase the safety of our air system. In the coming months, uh, coming weeks really, I intend to introduce the Runway Safety Awareness and Focused Effective Sa- Training and Technology Act, or of course it turns into some set of letters the Runway Safety Act. This legislation would focus on improving airport driver training and supporting technologies to redu- to reduce runway incursions and other safety, surface safety incidents. Close calls should not simply be viewed as warnings. They are critical opportunities to strengthen the system, procedures and technologies that keep the flying public safe. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses about the trends they are seeing, the lessons that can be learned from recent close calls, and how Congress can partner with industry to make certain the United States maintains a high standard. of aviation safety. Again, I thank our witnesses for your presence here today and I recognize uh the Senator from Illinois, Senator Duckworth.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, Chairman Randall, I wanna thank you so much uh for your continued work um and there's no question as to your dedication to aviation safety. Um, thank you for bringing together this panel of industry experts um for a very critical conversation about an issue that should concern every American, the alarming rise in close calls in the national airspace system. In November of twenty twenty three, I chaired a committee hearing on this very topic. National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy warned that, and I quote, " the concerning uptick in such incidents is a clear warning sign that the US aviation system is sharply strained. We cannot wait until a fatal accident forces action. We must act before there is tragedy." End quote. That warning has only grown more urgent. Today marks five hundred and ten days since an army Black Hawk helicopter collided mid-air with flight fifty three forty two over the Potomac. a tragedy that robbed families of the chance to ever see their loved ones again. Sixty seven people lost their lives, and we have four of those families here today. I I thank you for your continuing dedication concerning your grief and loss into improving the air traffic control system for the rest of us. Last month, when Administrator Bedford testified before this committee, I pressed him to commit to implementing the NTSB's recommendations stemming from the DCA mid-air collision. And I ask the same of this panel that is here today. We must learn from this catastrophe and from the hundreds of warning signs we see in close calls that happen every single year. While this is a hearing on close calls, I want to acknowledge tragedies that took place in the last two weeks. My heart goes out to the families of the twelve individuals that lost their lives in Butler, Missouri, when a single-engine turboprop plane crashed in a field and caught on fire, and to the families of the eight people who were fatally injured when a B-fifty-two crashed shortly at the takeoff on Edwards Air Force Base. Our aviation system's safety depends on layers of redundancy. When multiple layers begin to fray, the entire system becomes vulnerable. And in May, at Newark Liberty International Airport, United Flight one six nine struck a light pole on final approach. The light pole then flew into a tractor trailer that was traveling southbound on the New Jersey Turnpike. I always knew the New Jersey Turnpike was dangerous, but holy cow. Senator Kim's not here, but he would probably respond to that. The incident put two hundred and twenty-one passengers, eleven crew members and countless travelers at risk. Luckily, the truck driver only sustained minor injuries. And just this past Saturday, as the chairman has mentioned, around eleven thirty AM, Delta Airlines flight twenty three fifty one was on approach at Boston Logan International Airport. Air traffic control cleared American Airlines flight thirty one sixty one to take off moments before Delta flight twenty three fifty one was about to touch down on an intersecting runway. The crew of the Delta flight spotted the American Boeing seven thirty seven and executed a go around to avoid a collision saving the lives of the hundred and twenty nine passengers and six crew members on board. Those these close calls remind us of the tight margins with the calculations made by pilots and air traffic controllers. In far too many of these incidents, the difference between a close call and a deadly disaster has come down to a single, highly trained and professional individual taking emergency action. We have been fortunate to have experienced pilots and air traffic controllers who prevent disaster, and we must continue to invest in those pilots and air traffic controllers. That is why I fought to protect the fifteen hundred hour rule to ensure that pilots have the training necessary to make split-second decisions that save lives the fifteen hundred hour rule that came out of the Colgan air tragedy, must be maintained. The safety of our skies would not be possible without the dedicated air traffic controllers who are too often overworked, understaffed and forced to use antiquated equipment. While I anticipate today's conversation will focus on the equipment that is needed to keep our skies safe, the workforce must be part of that conversation. The workforce is critical to that conversation. While new equipment is necessary, many of these issues that threaten aviation safety are far harder to tackle than replacing wires, like rewiring the culture of complacency at the FAA, addressing the dire mental health issues that pilots and air traffic controllers too often experience, and building a robust aviation workforce. An effective modernization of the national airspace system requires sustained focus and dedicated funding. And I can't believe that we're sitting here today, almost a year after the one big beautiful bill that provided only a third of the funding required to modernize the air traffic control system. In fact, our president seems far more interested in spending three hundred billion dollars to reconstruct Iran, instead of spending a fraction of that, around fifty billion dollars, to build a air traffic control infrastructure that would secure the safety of our skies. Think about that. He'd rather spend three hundred billion dollars repairing Iran because of his war of choice than actually investing in our air traffic control system, which we have said is critically in dire need of that investment. You know, that's in addition to the billions that the president jammed through Congress in his massive spending bill and millions in taxpayer dollars he has wasted on his pet projects like his Marie Antoinette ballroom. Republicans may control both chambers of Congress and the White House, but there is bipartisan agreement that we must strengthen the safety of the NAS. We must remain steadfast because real progress requires every stakeholder, industry, labor, regulators, policymakers on both sides of the aisle who are dedicated to this. We must work together. We frankly have no other choice. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Senator Duckworth, thank you very much. I'd now like to introduce our witnesses, our first witness is Governor Chris Sununu, the President and CEO of Airlines for America, which represents the country's major carriers and cargo companies. Mister Sununu is the former governor of New Hampshire and the longest serving Republican governor in nearly a century. Our second witness is James Viola, President and CEO of General Aviation Manufacturers Association. In his role, Mister Viola represents the interest of over a hundred and forty airframes, avionic, engine and component manufacturers. Third witness is Todd Hapley, uh, m- President and CEO of the American Association airport executives, Mister Hopley represents the interests of airport employees ranging from the C suite C suite to the terminal and airfield. And our final witness is Captain Jason Ambrose, president of the Airlines Pilots Association. In his role, Mister Ambrose advocates for more than seventy five thousand pilots. Serving as the spokesperson and leader for the organization, he advocates for pilot safety and sustainable aviation industry. Uh, Governor Sunil, you are recognized for five minutes.

Well, thank you very much. Um, so good morning. Uh,

Good morning.

Chairman Moran, Ranking Member Duckworth, members of the Aviation Subcommittee. Uh, my name is Chris Snuna, serving as President and CEO of Airlines for America. So thank you for inviting us. And on behalf of Airlines for America and our members, we appreciate the opportunity to participate in this review of recent near-misses and the work needed to further strengthen what is the safest aviation system in the world. Let's begin, obviously, by taking a moment to recognize the lives of those that have been lost and those affected in the recent accidents. To thank all those first responders who risked their lives in those situations, these moments are a somber reminder that aviation safety demands constant vigilance. I'd also like to acknowledge the efforts of the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board, led by FAA Administrator Brian Bedford and NTSB Chair Jennifer Hamidi. Their drive toward aviation safety and dedication to this critical mission is foundational to its success. U. S. commercial aviation remains extraordinarily safe, and that record has been built through decades of disciplined collaboration among airlines, manufacturers, airports, pilots, flight attendants, mechanics, dispatchers, and traffic controllers. Our industry is defined by its people and their commitment to learn from every incident. Airlines utilize data-driven, non-punitive, and highly collaborative safety programs to identify precursors and implement mitigations before harm occurs. Central to this approach our our Air Carrier Safety Management Systems, known as SMSs, which institutionalize proactive hazard identification, risk assessment, and continuous improve improvement across operations. SMSs provide a structured organization-wide framework for managing safety risk through clearly defined policies, formal processes, and a strong safety culture. By integrating data from voluntary reporting programs, operational performance metrics, Safety analysis, it's these SMSs that enables air carriers to prioritize their resources, address those emerging risks, and continuously monitor mitigation effectiveness. In addition, this cultural bedrock of safety, airlines utilize technology to combat challenges both in the air and on the airport surfaces technologies that reduce the likelihood of mid-air collisions by providing traffic and resolution advisories that direct pilots to maintain, or increase separation, Those are a core safety component for our air carriers. Ground-based technologies that improve controller awareness and reduce runway encouraging risk are also integral in reducing those incidents and accidents. We always say aviation safety is a journey, it is not a destination. And while industry stakeholders and regulators continue their efforts to identify assess and mitigate systematic risk there's also a key role for Congress to play most importantly Congress must support the people, the infrastructure, and the operational stability that the national airspace system requires. This includes supporting policies that promote the sustained hiring, training, and retention of uh safety critical aviation workers. A modern safety system requires enough certified controllers, enough instructors, and enough training capacity to support the system safely and efficiently. Congress should absolutely build upon its twelve point five billion dollar down payment toward air air traffic control modernization with the next round of funding to ensure that technology gaps that have been ignored for the past thirty years finally get addressed. Air traffic modernization is one of the few policies that does enjoy bipartisan, bicameral support, as well as the support of nearly si- the sixty member Modern Skies coalition, consisting of stakeholder organizations across the entire industry. If I had an eighth page, I would read it to you. Um. In closing, it's really all about making sure that the the policies going forward are applicable and timely, and making sure that we're not delaying anymore, whether it's in funding, whether it's in in uh technology for operational safety, or making the investments in the most important part of the system, which is the people. Uh, we have the safest aviation system in the world, and that's something to be very proud of. But it also comes with the responsibility of maintaining that and living that journey uh every single day. Thank you very much.

Perhaps uh I don't know. Or better close than if you had a piece of paper. Uh, well done. Uh, Mister Hopley, while I didn't introduce the you in that order, uh, Mister Hopley, you are now recognized.

Thank you, and thank you for the invitation. It's always an honor to be before the committee, and thank you for your continued focus on aviation safety. Recent tragedies and incidents reinforce that we can never become complacent, take safety for granted, or lose our shared resolve to mitigate risks. To successfully mitigate risk and enhance safety, I believe we need to focus on process, people, and technology. Three points this morning. One, process. Safety management systems are an effective framework for identifying, analyzing, and mitigating hazards and risks. Airports, airlines, tenants, and the FAA utilize SMS to identify local risks and to tailor mitigation efforts to unique airport-specific circumstances. While the broad implementation of SMS across industry and government is enhancing safety, we need to strengthen FAA and industry coordination and data sharing, as my written testimony describes in more detail. Point two, people. There are opportunities to enhance safety on or near runways by addressing human factors, including more consistent initial and recurrent training. All workers who operate on airport movement areas, including runways, are required by the federal government to undergo extensive driver training, which often involves classroom or computer-based training, written tests, supervised driving, practical exams, and annual recurrent training. Triple AE has decades of experience training airport workers. In the past year alone, we have delivered more than sixty-seven thousand movement area driver training courses and nearly four hundred and thirty thousand non-movement driver training courses at three hundred and twenty-five airports. And we are deploying AI capabilities to provide enhanced recurrent training that recognizes individual learning habits and adjusts accordingly to promote improved learning retention and training results. And while effective training tools are available in improving, we believe more can be done. Specifically, we support the establishment of a task force at FAA to develop recommendations on how to improve the consistency of movement area driver training and basic skills nationwide, while preserving flexibility to address airport-specific conditions. We appreciate the conversations that we've had with you and your staff, Chairman Moran, and look forward to working with you to develop legislation in this area, recognizing its promise in improving runway safety at airports across the country. Point three, technology. Increased investments in technology and facilities to modernize the ATC system are real enhancements to safety and efficiency that we can build on in the years ahead to the benefit of travelers for generations to come. In the airport environment, surface surveillance tools are expected to be in place at more than two hundred airports in the months ahead. These systems promise to enhance safety and mitigate near-misses and can be bolstered with the installation of vehicle movement area transmitters where possible. Airports differ in layout, traffic mix, tower hours, runway configuration, weather and low visibility operations, construction activity, and vehicle access needs, and they must have the ability through SMS and other assessments to evaluate and prioritize technology deployment and safety investments to effectively target each dollar toward its highest and best safety purpose. Current airport resource limitations are real and growing. AIP is oversubscribed by a factor of three. PFCs have not been adjusted by for more than a quarter of a century. Billions of dollars in annual IIGI investments are expiring, and some in Congress are contemplating limits on the ability of airport operators to utilize technology to charge users for their use of airport facilities. We need to address those challenges, recognizing that they impact the ability of airports to fund safety projects and other critical improvements. Thank you.

Mr. Viola.

Welcome.

Chairman Moran, Ranking Member Duckworth, and members of the subcommittee. Thank you for inviting me to testify for this and for holding today's hearing. I am proud to represent General Aviation Manufacturers Association, better known as GAMMA. GAMMA is an international trade association, representing more than a hundred and thirty companies across the general aviation manufacturing and services sectors. Our members include the world's largest manufacturers of general aviation airplanes, rotorcraft, advanced air mobility, powered lift aircraft, engines, avionics, components and related technology. GAMMA members are also providers of maintenance and repair services, fixed base operations, pilot and maintenance training, and aircraft management companies. In the US, our industry supports three hundred and thirty-nine billion dollars in economic output and one point three million jobs nationwide. I personally have a comprehensive aviation background. I flew Blackhawks in the army's eighty-second airborne and Chinooks in the one sixtyth special operations aviation regiment. and later served at the FAA, overseeing pilot certification and general aviation safety. Just this weekend, I flew both an OH six loach helicopter and a Grummer Grumman Tiger airplane. I hold an air transport ratings for both categories and I'm on flight instructor with eight thousand hours. I again offer my condolences to the families affected by the tragic accident at Reagan National last January. That tragedy reminds us all to keep strengthening aviation safety culture. Gama applauds the commitment and leadership of this body to rep- respond to the tragic accident. Gama values the work being done to foster technologies developed by aviation manufacturers to advance safety and operational improvements. Gama is also proud to be serving on the committee of the Modern Skies Coalition, which is supporting the modernization of our air traffic control system. GAM is focused on helping foster aviation safety, and we support many key initiatives, including the implementation of SMS, the safety management systems, and the work of the GAJSC, or the General Aviation Joint Safety Committee. It's a public-private partnership with the FAA that has helped reduce fatal accident rates, for issues like controlled flight into terrain through better situation awareness technology. The numbers for general aviation show real progress. The general aviation fatal action rate has improved from one point one two for one hundred thousand flight hours a dozen years ago to an FAA preliminary estimate of zero point five eight last year. That progress comes from the safer aircraft, better pilot training standards, and technology adoption, such as automatic dependent surveillance broadcast systems, better known as ADS-B. As of the beginning of this year, over a hundred and seventy-one thousand aircraft are now equipped with ADS-B-out, which transmits the aircraft's position and flight information. And the vast majority of those operators have voluntarily installed ADS-B-in to see other traffic. Electronic flight bags provide these safety benefits to aircraft without installed displays giving pilots traffic weather and terrain awareness on a tablet. General aviation manufacturers continue to innovate and provide solutions that improve runway and taxiway safety and give pilots three-dimensional views of traffic, terrain, and weather in the cockpit. Next generation collision avoidance systems are being layered on top of ADS-B to give pilots even earlier warnings of nearby traffic and obstacles. These technologies are real. Many are available today. And this is proof that our industry is investing in safety solutions. I do, however, want to highlight that making Progress in safety involves the entire aviation ecosystem. New safety technology only reaches cockpits if the FAA has the resources and the workforce to certify it promptly, if FAA and global regulators harmonize the standards, if the supply chain can deliver parts, and if our maintenance and repair shops, already near capacity, can install it. I thank this subcommittee for its leadership, and commitment to enhance aviation safety. Your sustained attention and your willingness to work with industry on solutions makes a real difference in how quickly these technologies can reach pilots and passengers. Gamma stands ready to be a resource on technology, certification, and safety policy as you continue this important work. Thank you for the opportunity to testify, and I welcome your questions.

Thank you very much. Captain Moroza.

Yep.

Welcome.

Well, thank you. Good morning, Jim Moran, Ranking Member Duckworth, and members of this subcommittee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify and present the perspective of the eighty thousand commercial airline pilots of the Airline Pilots Association, International. My name is Jason Ambrosi and I am a current and qualified seven sixty seven captain at Delta Airlines and president of ALPA since twenty twenty three. As I speak before this committee today, My thoughts are with my union brothers we have lost two tragic collisions in the past sixteen months. Captain Antoine Forrest and First Officer McKinsey McKinsey-Guenter, who lost their lives in the ground collision at LaGuardia in March of this year, and Captain Jonathan Campos and Honorary Captain Samuel Lilley, and the sixty-five others who died in the mid-air collision in DCA in January of twenty twenty five. The unfortunate truth in aviation is that we make the most progress on safety only after lives have already been lost. Yes, we honor the lives of those lost by strengthening aviation safety. But I can assure you, we would ra- all rather have our union brothers flying the line with us. And I know their families would certainly rather have them in their lives rather than honoring their legacy. ALPA is calling for urgent action with the full knowledge that technologies that could have prevented these accidents exist and are readily available right now. I commend the quick work of this committee and the leaders in the Senate, who drafted and passed the ROADER Act, which seeks to close the gaps in the aviation safety net that allowed the Potomac mid-air collision and similar accidents to happen. Your collective urgency matched the gravity of the moment. The mid-air collision exposed a safety gap, the lack of an integrated AT- ADSB and mandate. Without it, pilots are forced to rely on last-second warning systems, like TCAS, that offer limited alerting time, insufficient call-out information, and are suppressed near the ground, like in the airport environment. Pilots are the safest when we are aware of and can avoid threats. Of particular importance for this hearing, the Road Act also has substantial benefits for surface safety, including runway incursions. The legislation's performance standards require integrated capabilities for pilots on the airport surface. This would include adopting the use of ADSBN applications for direct runway safety relevant traffic and runway alerts to flight crew on cockpit display of traffic information. Much like the airborne benefits of ADSBN that have been discussed at length, the rotor's surface applications will give flight crews better awareness what's happening around them at the airport. These tools identify the runway traffic status under normal operational conditions, alert pilots to any abnormal traffic condition, and enable them to take evasive action. There are other critical technologies and systems that we must implement and support to reduce the risk of close calls and accidents. In the airport environment, we must invest in systems that could prevent collisions similar to the accident at LaGuardia earlier this year. While the NTSB continues that investigation, it is clear from other close calls that we need to do more to protect against runway incursions with surface technologies like airport surface surveillance capability. In addition to emerging technologies, the FAA must continue to support existing tools like runway status lights and airport surveillance detection equipment model X. ALPA proudly stands with the administration's co- supports and supports the administration's commitment to modernize air traffic control, and urges further investment to bring this plan to reality in order to maintain safe airspace for existing users as well as new entrants. Ninety-five years ago, ALPA was founded by pilots who refused to accept that dying on the job was simply a part of flying. We fought for the very standards today helped make aviation the safest mode of transportation. Maintaining this safety record is knowing that when not to accept, good enough. Two fatal accidents in sixteen months tell us, good enough is no longer good enough. This is the time for action. Not the time to give in to special interests fighting progress. We cannot stall. We cannot water down the safety advancements of the Rotaract. We must keep moving forward. We owe it to the sixty-seven lives lost in the Potomac mid-air collision and every life lost in aviation accidents to continue the fight for safety. The time to act on aviation safety is now, and I commend this committee's dedication to make our system safer. Thank you.

Uh, let me start my questions uh on this issue of ADSBN. And, Mister Hopley, even you in your testimony, I think I tried to find it in the written testimony and couldn't. But you s- were somewhat subtle in your suggestion that there's an avoidance of technologies, uh, which, uh, may result in less fees being collected by airports. Mister Viola, you talked about alternatives and the bag. Uh, and Captain, you were direct in your support for ADSBN. What's the, what's the controversy among the interested parties that needs to be resolved so Congress can more quickly move forward with the passage of the Rotaract. Uh, what what is it that is the difficult uh circumstance that keeps this from happening beyond just the House has a bill and the Senate has a bill? How do you see it? Mister Viola?

Thank you for that question. Uh, glad to start. I think there is no question that ADSB N is something that uh even when I was at a forum and I asked uh the probably five hundred people in the audience how many people voluntarily equipped and numbers were probably around ninety percent. So that is something we're doing, we know we all need it, I think everybody here agrees that ADS BN could have avoided the uh the accident here in DC for sure if people were had the equipment on and were operating it properly as you are trying to do with the bill, so we certainly support ADS BN.

Anything else, Captain?

Yeah, I'll be direct. I don't know why anybody would be opposed to this. It's a readily available technology. As as Jim just said, that many general aviation airplanes, even the aviation the airplane I flew have this technology, but yet I don't have it on the flight deck of our airliners. So this is ready readily available. It's proven it's been an NTSB recommendation for almost twenty years to have ADSB in. So I don't know why anybody would be opposed to it.

Mister Hopley, you would you be less subtle and remind me of why this might be an issue for some.

Sure, Senator. Thank you for the question. The House version of the legislation contains a provision not in the Senate version that airports are very concerned with. It's section one O five of the House bill. And that would preclude airports from their ability to use ADS-B for fee collection purposes. Uh, we think it's an important uh, tool, a technology tool for airports to be able to use that for fee collection, so that we can make sure that we've got appropriate safety projects, uh, going on at airports. And we don't think that, uh, turning off that technology, as some pilots have threatened to do, uh, in air, we don't think that to avoid having to pay those fees, those small landing fees, we don't think that's good for safety. That was what I was referencing, sir.

And and those are fees that are already required uh to be paid, right?

Yes, sir.

Um. Small airports, let me focus on that uh coming from where I come from. Um. These near misses are a a challenge everywhere. Small airports aren't exempt. Uh, and unlike larger airports, many of those airports lack radar and the most basic situational situational awareness tools. Uh, regional airlines have shared with me numerous examples of close calls between regional aircraft and general aviation aircraft at non-towered airports. Uh, Mister Hopley, maybe this is a, again, a question for you. What uh, steps need to be taken to make sure that all aircraft are utilizing safety procedures?

Sure. Couple of things, Senator. One, uh, ATC modernization writ large uh, is beneficial for the system. Large airports, small airports, towered airports, non-towered airports. Two, uh, commend the FAA for the widespread deployment of surface awareness initiative systems. There's ninety in place with plans to put two hundred and twenty in place, including Wichita as an example. That is definitely helping with greater situational awareness at these airports. And then the third point I'd raise if Senator Sheehy, I'll raise it anyway, if Senator Sheehy was still here, I would give him a shout out for his legislation that would require situational awareness displays at contract towers that do not have the stars uh platform in place. I think that's something important that Congress can and should do to help uh some of these airports that you're

Thank you. Uh, Mister Vaila, uh, general aviation operators share airspace with commercial airlines, military aircraft, and other users every day. From Gamma's perspective, what safety challenges are unique to general aviation community and how do they intersect with the broader aeros airspace safety concerns.

Yes.

Thank you for that question. The the uh general aviation aircraft are such a wide range of aircraft, to include, you know, aircraft uh electrical systems on the lower end with uh experimental aircraft association. And so being able to have one size that fits all is very difficult to do with mandates. And so as part of that, you know, having the flexibility to make sure that we have the performance base that you're after, which is that uh seeing a void um of the adsb out adsb in and having the technology on board that helps keep the aircraft separated is a is key to general aviation so that flexibility of not being able to mandate with one one slide

thank you as a general aviation pilot who uh paid more for my two thousand six f one fifty than i did my my nineteen fifty eight comanche um uh uh i i i hear you and in fact maybe there is some sort of slight uh put in for those airport fees that maybe reflects what we do with uh ground vehicles where we charge trucking truck higher fees than um, you know, somebody driving my mommobil, my my my uh minivan. Um Captain Ambrose, in twenty twenty three you told this committee that it is clear, and I quote I'm quoting you, it is clear the system is under strain and we need to aggressively pursue solutions to stop these events. In that same hearing you highlighted the importance of surface safety systems like ADSB like airport service detection equipment, model X or ASDEX. Um, on March twenty second of twenty twenty six, the CRJ nine hundred operating as Air Canada flight eighty six forty six collided with an aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle while landing at LaGuardia Airport the captain and first officer were fatally injured. The NTSSB preliminary airport um report found that the ASDEX system did not generate oral or visual alert on the displays in the ATC tower to warn controllers of the potential runway conflict because the fire truck did not have a transponder. It's not just the aircraft, but the fire truck, the ground equipment on the airport did not have a transponder. And AS ASDEX is installed at thirty-five airports around the country, including Chicago, Midway, O'Hare and LaGuardia. But without transponders on the vehicles, the ASD ASDEX system could not provide an alert to controllers. Captain Ambrose, with proper transponder equipage, The very safety system you advocated for in twenty twenty three could have made a difference for those two pilots. Today's committee hearing is a reminder of how too often those critical warning calls have gone unanswered. Heather and Bruce, do you believe that listening to the recommendation of pilots will will increase safety standards throughout the national airspace system? Should be an easy question.

Yeah, well, thank you for the question. Yeah. Absolutely.

Softball.

We're out there every day.

It's like underhand. I'm not even being able to.

We're out there every day. Out there every day.

Thank you. So could you please explain why pilots need integrated alerting technologies? today and you talked about adsb um and uh especially given workload demands when navigating high density operations and why alternatives to integrated systems like electronic flight bags are not sufficient and i think this is important for you to make this distinction cause there are those who are pushing for alternative systems which uh are are not sufficient in my opinion but could you give us your expert professional um uh uh idea

absolutely uh as a fellow pilot you you understand that

i flew way lower and slower than you

But

But go ahead.

that's where most of this is as is being the what we're talking about right now are these these near misses. This is true. So uh first back to the you know, Yeah. FAA is is asking that or mandating transponders on these ground vehicles, and they should go to everywhere that should be there, so that when we get these tools like ADSPN or the SDX that it does give us that alert. But specific to the ADSPN technology on our integrated displays versus yet just another app on an iPad, um let's think about the situation the tragic situation the potomac has if it was on our integrated displays it would have given us warning given us more time and it would be in our field of vision while those pilots were conducting that that maneuver near the ground if it's on an ipad over here i have to look over here and not focus on what's going on in front of me as well as i have a lot of other apps and things that i need to have on that ipad i have my charts i have my weather Our flight plans now save trees. We it's all on the it's all on this one device. So now I'm fumbling through apps, trying to find my collision avoidance technology while I should be heads up, looking forward. So in an integrated display where it can't be off, it can't be in the app not open, it can't not hear the alarm or the alert is essential. That's why we're we're so focused on making sure that there's it's integrated into our flight tech displays.

Um, and that's what the electronic flight back systems and some of these other alternative alternative uh proposals that have been put forward are. They're not fully integrated. Is that correct?

That's correct. It would be basically one uh one more app, an eighth app per se on our on our iPad or our flight back.

Mm-hmm. And I I do want to note that uh the pilot on the flight controls of Black Hawk of the uh flight fifty-three forty-two strategy did have an iPad did have the information but it was strapped to her leg and was not um wired into her headset so she never got the alerts. Um and she was flying goggles, which means you look, I mean your field of view is even further um reduced in that situation. Um thank you.

Yes. Thank you. Senator from West Virginia.

Thank you. Thank you all for being here. It's uh an important topic. I just have a kind of off off the wall kind of question that I'd like to ask each one of you, if you could be as honest as you possibly feel comfortable with. I have a feeling there's a lot more near misses or near uh near tragic uh instances than what is formally reported. Are you each satisfied with the data, the formal data that we see uh in front of us? And do you believe it's collected properly so that we have the full scale uh understanding of what is happening and what could possibly happen? And I'll start with you, Mister Sununu.

The data is

The data is absolutely there, but there are many more, thousands of more. of near misses um than are are probably out there in the public in that, you know, get get the headlines. There are hundreds of them every single day.

OK.

Senator, uh, we have a concern and that is information sharing between pilots, air traffic controllers, airports, uh airports aren't getting all the information we would like to get, and part of that reason is because airports are subject to open record laws and FOIA requests. And so there's a reluctance from time to time from other parties to share that important safety information with our members for fear that it will be published publicly. So there's an important issue there for Congress to address.

There's an issue. Alright, Mister Viola.

I think the uh close calls have benefited from aircraft being equipped with ADS B and B and having that additional information. And as we're learning with the data that is being put into the system. Um, I think it's helping us as we're doing this mitigation, as we're holding this hearing today, that we're we're moving in the right direction to get as much data as possible, and then how do we implement it to continue to increase the safety in the system.

Thank you. Mr. Rambrosi, Captain.

There can always be more data. Um, we appreciate your initiative uh in the FAA bill to get more voluntary safety reporting data available. So getting more data and more reports, not just from pilots or air traffic controllers, but from other people in involved in the aviation ecosystem is essential. And then, as has been has been addressed, is the actual sharing and in working through that information. So, you know, go back a little bit in the Wayback Machine, the the the the CAST or Commercial Aviation Safety team was very good about digesting this data. That has seemed to fall off a little bit, so we would urge in this process to to make sure that there's more, you know, again, de-identified, but get that data together so we can we can we can address that.

So I I, you know, there's a sense of agreement here that better more data, better data, and there probably are gaps in the data. So we may be looking at a larger problem. But the good news is all of you have brought solutions here and we're working towards solutions. I wanted to talk about a near miss with a West Virginia plane actually. Uh, and I just met the pilot yesterday, coincidentally, Derek Long was flying uh from a uh from Charleston, West Virginia into Teterboro and uh he on a company plane and uh he as he was flying the uh TCAS system alerted uh alerted the pilot to descend immediately. I I'm sure you're familiar with this act and it was well publicized. Um, I understand it's still under investigation, but I did want to commend the pilot uh Derek Long for his quick thinking and saving many lives that day. Um, I think we've covered things that but in an instance like that where it is more uh, Teterboro I think is known as more of a general aviation, a high-end genera general aviation airport. Um, or is there anything else that you've left out of here that might have helped in that particular accident from what you're aware of? Does anybody have a Yes, Captain.

I'll echo that having ADS BN technology would have given more warning. TCAS is great, it's a last line of defense product, but having more time for the pilot to see, be aware of it would would make it a less of a close call.

Um, Mr. Sununu, you're obviously uh have the larger airlines within your with your uh realm. Um, a and we hear so much about AI, AI, AI, uh, to the point where we're wondering where in where this is going. Where does AI go uh to help with this uh uh this system and help prevent us accidents? Do you see a future for that or is that something you guys are investigating?

AI can be an amazing tool. There's no question about it. But at the end of the day, it's all about the people, right, that are behind the tool and the analytics used.

Mm-hmm.

So, uh, do we see AI being integral in, um, flight planning, things of that nature, warning systems potentially? Uh, but you have to have the training and the people behind it, which is why our our effort is always about whether it's air traffic controllers, pilot training, whatever it might take, so that that tool is being properly utilized. But it it's a tool, it's not a solution.

Right. Yeah. Well, I mean, I think the captain stated it when he ta- started talking about the iPad off to the to the left side of the of the pilot or the right side of the pilot. I mean, if you've ever flown into Charleston, West Virginia, you don't want the pilot's eyes anywhere but right on the runway. And uh many of our regional and smaller airports uh and larger airports are exactly like that so I applaud your efforts and thank you all for being here today. Thank you.

Senator Hickenlooper, I'm going to put uh bipartisanship above my well-being of and recognize you before I recognize the chairman of the full committee. Uh, Senator Hickenlooper.