US aviation safety ‘no longer the gold standard,’ according to statements at House hearing

Lawmakers and aviation organizations grappled with whether the US has maintained its title as “the gold standard” when it comes the safety of the nation’s air traffic control system in a House hearing Tuesday.

For decades, US officials liked to say the nation’s aviation system was the “gold standard” for safety. A House hearing on Tuesday cast doubt on that assertion. At the hearing, on problems with the nation’s air traffic control system, lawmakers pressed aviation organizations on aging infrastructure, chronic air traffic controller staffing shortages and what they called a broken hiring process. Rep. Troy Nehls, chairman of the subcommittee on aviation, pointed out that 105 of the Federal Aviation Administration’s 138 systems are unsustainable or potentially unsustainable. “For a country that considers itself the gold standard in aviation safety, these numbers are unacceptable, and we must do better,” Nehls, a Texas Republican, said in opening remarks. “While it’s easy to lay blame at the feet of the FAA, and their project management is certainly not blameless, we also have to look at our own shortfalls.” The questioning comes following a string of US aviation incidents, like the deadly midair collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, DC, on January 29 and other close calls throughout the country. Relatives of those who died in the January collision were in the audience on Tuesday. Air traffic control’s role in the incidents will be investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board. During the hearing, air traffic control experts and officials were asked what Congress can do.