Memphis Standard

WASHINGTON – Congressmen Steve Cohen (TN-9), the Ranking Member of the Aviation Subcommittee, and Tim Burchett (TN-2), a Member of the Subcommittee, today introduced the Safe Aviation and Flight Enhancement (SAFE) Act. The measure calls for the swift implementation of National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and other international air safety organization recommendations for broadcast of flight data for the location of downed aircraft and survivors and supplement what are too often the long-delayed and expensive recovery of flight data recorders and cockpit voice recorders, sometimes referred to as “black boxes.”

Congressman Cohen made the following statement:

“The SAFE Act presents a commonsense solution for assuring that aircraft crashes can be located quickly and that accurate causes of crashes can be swiftly identified by investigators. It will save substantial time and expense in recovering black boxes and will potentially save lives. I appreciate my colleague Tim Burchett’s support for this measure and hope to see it move through our Subcommittee, the full committee, a floor vote and become law.” 

Congressman Burchett made the following statement:

“When a plane goes down, it’s important we understand exactly how it happened as soon as possible. It’s unacceptable that sometimes it takes days, weeks, or even years to recover the black box that can help us find answers. I’m proud to support this measure to speed up that process which could improve aircraft safety and even save lives.”

Jim Hall, former Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, and aviation safety advocate, made the following statement:

“Since my time as NTSB Chairman, I have been fighting for improved Black Boxes, which are the primary source of trusted information the traveling public and safety regulators worldwide rely upon to make our skies safer. As we enter an increasingly complex era of air travel, the SAFE Act will make commonsense safety updates to give accident investigators quick access to protected Black Box data without risking lives and precious time searching the ocean depths. Thanks to NTSB investigations and strong Congressional oversight, millions of lives will continue to be saved by advancing important safety priorities like this.” 

Gail Dunham, Executive Director of the National Air Disaster Foundation, founded by air crash survivors and victims’ family members, made the following statement:

“On behalf of air crash survivors, victim family members, and the traveling public, we deserve transparency and swift action following aviation accidents to understand what happened to our loved ones, and to prevent future accidents. For this reason, the National Air Disaster Foundation has long advocated for stronger flight data and cockpit voice recorder standards. With modern technologies available today, it should never again take weeks, months, and years to get critical accident information in the hands of safety investigators. We applaud Congress for their tireless leadership on this important aviation safety issue and strongly endorse the SAFE Act.”

See the text of the legislation here.

There have been recent crashes in which the recovery of black boxes has cost hundreds of millions of dollars, including a 2014 Malaysia Airlines flight that crashed into the South China Sea and is still missing.

Existing technologies can establish the location of aircraft with regular broadcasts to orbiting satellites. Aircraft can also be equipped with data recorders that jettison before impact and can float and send homing signals for fast recovery, potentially saving lives.

Original source can be found here.