OPENING STATEMENT OF THE HON. ROBERT MENENDEZ ON AVIATION SAFETY: ISSUES RAISED BY THE VALUE JET ACCIDENT We are at a crossroads in aviation. Contradictory signals have been sent by Congress. There is the desire to have smaller, less intrusive government and, at the same time, the insistence that aviation meet the goal of zero accidents while offering the public reduced fares. This paradox has tragically been demonstrated by the accident which brings us here today. I am reminded of the numerous times that I have heard phrases like, "get government off the back of business" or "let the market decide." Anytime there is an airplane accident that hollow rhetoric disappears. Instead we hear the refrain, "Why didn't the government do something about this?" As a believer in the importance of an activist federal government, I welcome this hearing as a vindication that Congress must be involved in ensuring the public safety. There have been plenty of problems at FAA not the least of which is the constant budget pressure to cut spending and reduce manpower. Today we see the horrible result of these pressures: less inspectors, less training, less inspections, less air traffic controllers, old and obsolete equipment. If these hearings have any positive benefit, I hope it will demonstrate the need for resource. Maybe we can prevent the long predicted collapse of the air traffic control system or another accident which could have been prevented if we had not sought to cheapest instead of the best solution. It is an eternal verity that you get what you pay for. Safety is not cheap and neither are lives. Thank you, Mr. Chairman for holding this hearing. Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, it is a pleasure to provide the Office of Inspector General (OIG) assessment of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) safety oversight programs. Questions regarding the adequacy of FAA's oversight of the aviation industry are not new. The Inspector General first addressed problems with FAA's inspection program in a hearing before this Committee on February 6, 1992. Since that hearing, the OIG issued 10 reports critical of FAA's oversight of aircraft operators, parts manufacturers, repair stations, and designated mechanic examiners. We have made 70 recommendations to strengthen FAA's inspection programs. A decade ago the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Committee on Government Affairs was discussing the same problem that we are today. The Committee Chairman stressed the need for constant emphasis on prevention, on stopping potentially hazardous conditions today before they become tomorrow's glaring, and often tragic, headlines. At that very hearing, the FAA said that contract maintenance was a growing concern that needed to be addressed. FAA's most important missions are to ensure that air travel is safe, and to control this Nation's air traffic, on the ground and in the skies. To accomplish its safety oversight responsibilities, FAA established a series of procedures, manuals, circulars, and regulations designed to license individuals and corporations, grant approvals for the production of aircraft and aviation parts, assure compliance with mandatory aviation requirements, and accomplish periodic surveillance inspections of aviation safety-related activities. These programs are executed by a cadre of over 2,500 inspectors, and are further augmented by non-Government FAA designated examiners. Our work has led us to the conclusion that effective inspections organizations have seven basic attributes: 0 They have an inventory of the entities they are responsible for overseeing; They have a process for targeting high-risk activities; June 25, 1996 Page 1 |