WASHINGTON — The House is expected to vote today on new airline safety legislation — but because of a backroom deal among lawmakers, the measure is not quite as tough as the families of Flight 3407 victims would have liked.
The final version of the bill, unveiled Tuesday, includes an entirely new section aimed at placating collegiate aviation programs. The provision allows an undetermined amount of university class time to be counted toward the 1,500 "flight hours" the bill would require before a pilot could join a passenger airline.
The requirement still would rise sharply from the current 250 hours.
But the behind-the-scenes addition of that new language — included at the request of a powerful Florida lawmaker whose district includes a prominent flight school — didn't exactly thrill those who lost loved ones in the February crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407 in Clarence Center.
"This is kind of out of the blue," said Susan Bourque, whose sister, Beverly Eckert, was among the 50 people who died in the crash.
Indeed, even some of the bill's co-sponsors — such as Rep. Chris Lee, R-Clarence — did not know the changes had been made.
"I'm a little mystified," Lee said. "I'm always surprised with the ways of Washington."
Lee and the Flight 3407 families stressed, though, that even with the changes, the bill represents an extraordinarily strong effort to bolster flight safety.
The legislation also would impose stringent training requirements to make sure pilots know how to operate stall recovery systems and would force airlines to develop fatigue risk management systems for pilots.
Democrats and Republicans on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee worked together on the bill, which the committee approved unanimously July 30, just a day after it was introduced.
But Embry-Riddle University and other universities with aviation programs later complained that the 1,500-flight-hour requirement would cause prospective students to shun them in favor of local flight instructors who offer plenty of hands-on experience.
In response, Rep. John L. Mica of Florida — the top Republican on the committee, which oversees aviation, and the congressman from the district that includes Embry-Riddle's campus — went to work.
Negotiations with Rep. Jerry F. Costello, an Illinois Democrat and chairman of the aviation subcommittee, produced the compromise, which allows the head of the Federal Aviation Administration to decide how much classroom time can be counted as flight time under the 1,500-hour requirement. The classroom time would have to "enhance safety more" than would additional hours in the cockpit, the insertion says.
FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt and other pilots who testified at a House hearing last month voiced strong support for a 1,500-hour fight-time requirement, which has reduced the concerns of the Flight 3407 families.
"I'm a little bit nervous about this," said Mike Loftus, a former Continental pilot whose daughter, Maddy, died in the crash. "If it were anybody other than Randy Babbitt in that job, I would be worried" that the flight-hours requirement would be genuinely weakened.
Only two weeks ago, Mica called Bourque to reiterate his support for the 1,500-hour flight time requirement.
Neither Justin Harclerode, Mica's spokesman, nor Tim Brady, dean of Embry-Riddle's College of Aviation, returned calls seeking comment on the new language in the bill.
The provision raises a key question about the legislative process: Can senior lawmakers insert language into a bill that has already been approved by the committee?
"In essence, yes," said Jim Berard, a spokesman for the Transportation Committee.
Such last-minute insertions are not unusual. Lee cited that fact, and the flight-safety insertion, as reasons for his push to require that all legislation be made public 72 hours before a final vote.
The aviation safety bill, with the changes, is expected to pass by voice vote, and the Flight 3407 families continue to support it strongly.
"You don't want to throw the baby out with the bath water," Bourque said.
Kevin Kuwik, another leader of the families group, agreed, saying: Obviously, there are a lot of good things in the bill."
The new provision conflicts with legislation introduced last week by Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., which does not give the flight schools a break on the 1,500-hour flight time requirement.
"There is no question that we should be raising the training requirements for commercial pilots," Schumer said. "The Senate's version of this legislation goes right to the heart of the problem, and I will work with the conference committee to put the Senate's stronger language in the final bill."
The Flight 3407 families will push for that, said Kuwik, who called the insertion of the new language into the House bill "our introduction to politics."
