Alexandria, VA, April 3, 2008 — The Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) issued the following statement today in response to allegations of lax FAA aviation safety oversight and criticism of aviation safety partnership programs, including those aired in a hearing today held by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee:
“The commercial aviation system in the United States is the safest in the world,” said FSF President and CEO William R. Voss, “and both the FAA and industry should be justifiably proud of their record. As in any safety management system, there is always room for continuous improvement, but we cannot allow isolated breakdowns, which the FAA and industry are moving swiftly to address, to ruin partnership programs that have demonstrably contributed to aviation’s sterling safety record. Nor can we afford to dry up the free flow of information that allows professionals to identify problems before they become safety threats,” Voss continued. “We cannot create a wall between the FAA and the airlines that will stop the flow of information and set aviation safety back 20 years.”
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Flight Safety Foundation is an independent, nonprofit, international organization engaged in research, auditing, education, advocacy and publishing to improve aviation safety. The Foundation’s mission is to pursue the continuous improvement of global aviation safety and the prevention of accidents. www.flightsafetstg.wpenginepowered.com
Contact: Emily McGee, Director of Communications, 1-703-739-6700, ext. 126; mcgee@webdeva.flightsafety.org
