FAA chief urges pilots to read Flight 3407 transcript : Home: The Buffalo News
FAA chief urges pilots to read Flight 3407 transcript
By Jerry Zremski
News Washington Bureau Chief
WASHINGTON — The new head of the Federal Aviation Administration today asked the nation's airline pilots to read the transcript of the cockpit conversations from Continental Connection Flight 3407, which crashed in Clarence in February, claiming 50 lives.
"If you haven't read the transcript, I'd encourage you to do so," FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said at the Air Line Pilots Association's annual Air Safety Summitt.
The transcript shows Capt. Marvin Renslow and First Officer Rebecca L. Shaw violating federal "sterile cockpit" rules by discussing things that were not flight-related as the plane began its descent into Buffalo.
"This is not the first time this issue has been raised," Babbitt said, noting that sterile-cockpit violations have been found in other fatal crashes.
While noting that the FAA and Congress are hard at work to toughen flight safety standards -- most notably those aimed at preventing pilot fatigue -- Babbitt told the pilots that the government could do only so much.
"We simply cannot regulate professionalism," said Babbitt, a retired pilot and former president of the pilots union. "Safety comes down to one thing: it's us."
Babbitt also indicated for the first time that he would be willing to consider random spot checks of cockpit voice recorders in planes that do not crash, just to monitor whether sterile cockpit violations are occurring.
Really gotta love that last paragraph. Sets a dangerous precedent.
-MJ