FAA To Work On Improving Pilot Safety, Training Regulations

Seventeen months ago, a commuter plane crashed into a suburban house outside Buffalo, N.Y. killing all 49 people on board and one on the ground. Since then, advocates have been pushing Congress to act on increasing pilot safety regulations but these attempts have been negated by the inability to organize an advocacy union. This struggle has stalled action on a wide-ranging bill whose main purpose is to fund the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) through 2012. The FAA is currently drafting its own proposals to set more-stringent pilot-training standards and modify work conditions, including rest time, based on scientific research.