Congress should demand answers from the FAA
Examiner Editorial 01/15/11
Lawrence Jackson/AP file Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., head of the main panel with oversight authority for the Federal Aviation Administration, should demand answers from FAA chief Randy Babbitt.
When a federal agency has chronic problems, the causes can often be traced to a long-term lack of effective congressional oversight. That appears to be the case with the Federal Aviation Administration. Once the gold standard of competence and excellence, the FAA's reputation has been sullied in recent years by management blunders and omissions that the aviation agency has shown little willingness to correct.
The new House leadership should flex its oversight muscles before approving a new budget authorization bill for the FAA. Five years ago, when the last FAA budget authorization measure was approved, Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., was a member of the aviation subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Now that Mica is chairman of the main congressional panel with oversight authority for the FAA, he should summon FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt to Capitol Hill and demand answers to several important questions that directly affect the safety of the flying public:
»?Why, after 17 years, has the FAA still not implemented a National Transportation Safety Board recommendation that commercial airline pilots receive continuous training on how to respond quickly and properly when the cockpit collision-avoidance alarm in their aircraft goes off, especially in light of the record number of errors made by air traffic controllers during the past decade?
»?Why has the FAA ignored multiple NTSB recommendations that lighter-than-air gliders be required to be equipped with technology to make them visible to other aircraft in their immediate vicinity?
»?Why has the FAA delayed development of a unique national glider transponder code that would make it easier for other aircraft and air traffic controllers to track them?
»?Since 2003, several former airline pilots with impeccable flight and performance records have accused top FAA managers of looking the other way when their medical licenses were unjustly revoked and they were hounded out of their jobs in retaliation for filing safety reports mandated under federal law. Why hasn't Babbitt started an investigation into their accusations?
»?Several FAA employees claim they were also forced out of their jobs after reporting safety problems despite the agency's Whistleblower Protection Program and numerous federal laws designed to protect employees who expose management problems and abuses. What is Babbitt doing to ensure that employees like former FAA manager Gabe Bruno -- who was forced out after exposing a fraudulent aircraft mechanics licensing ring -- are not punished for doing their jobs?
»?The Government Accountability Office has warned that NextGen, the glitch-plagued $40 billion global-positioning air traffic control system, which the FAA is developing to replace its current aging radar-based control system, could wind up costing taxpayers four times more than original estimates. What is the FAA doing to identify the causes of cost overruns and prevent their recurrence?
Mica should demand that Babbitt produce significant, measurable improvements in each of these areas during the coming year -- or resign and let somebody else take over the controls.
_____________________________
By: Field McConnell
Jan 26, 2011 10:59 PM
Examiner: Thanks for posting this significant and timely piece questioning the leadership of Randy Babbitt and several of his subordinates. I was an airline pilot for 32 years both as a Widebody International Captain for Northwest and [ following my 'ushering out' for daring to report illegal modifications to Boeing Airliners even though both FAR 121.533 and Northwest Airlines FOM 9.1.1. compelled me report these unsafe modifications ] as a contract Captain at a non-Boeing airline in a Muslim nation. Additionally I flew NorAD F4 and F16 interceptors and it was, in fact, my Air National Guard unit that was overhead Washington DC on 9/11.
I notified FAA, Air Line Pilots Association, International ( ALPA )as well as DoD and FBI beginning on 11 December 2006. The following month I was ordered to take a physical from a GP MD unliscensed to determine a pilot's medical fitness for performing pilot duties. When I passed that an appointment was set up with a known shill shrink that ALPA has used to terminate the flying career of, or silence, many highly experienced pilots for their daring do their job and perform their fiduciary obligations under Federal and Airline Company flying regulations. Because these airline pilots from United, Delta, Continental and Northwest had to perform interstate travel to Dr. Elliott's Los Angeles clinic, and because this was a pattern of behavior oft repeated it is my contention that ALPA and FAA have participated in a RICO activity ending the careers of many pilots and unnecessarily reducing the layer of safety that should protect the traveling public.
I confronted ALPA and Boeing in Civil Case 3:07-cv-24 on 27 Feb 2007. Four days later Boeing admitted the existence and deployment of the Boeing Uninterruptible Auto Pilot. Some four years later ALPA is still crossing their fingers that District Court in the District of Columbia doesn't allow another case, Civil Case 1:08-1600 (RMC)(Pro Se), to move forward to move to a jury trial argued by a Pro Se litigant. ALPA needs to be put into receivership to ensure safety. FAA Babbitt and two key aides need to be replaced. I don't wish to alarm travelers and I do not wish for any such alarm to be connected to the very responsible and responsive Examiner, however if any of your readers wish more details simply search the web for the lawsuits or visit www.abeldanger.net
Field McConnell
US Naval Academy '71
Lt Col USAF (ret)
www.abeldanger.net
fbi@usdoj.gr
218 329 6190
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