DeSaulnier's Aviation Safety Measures Included In FAA Reauthorization

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA — U.S. Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, announced Wednesday that several aviation safety measures he authored and has long advocated for were included in legislation that reauthorizes the Federal Aviation Administration for five years.

The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 —H.R. 3935— passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 387-to-26 and now goes to President Joe Biden's desk to be signed into law.

Following a near-miss incident at San Francisco International Airport in 2017 when an arriving Air Canada flight came dangerously close to landing on a taxiway occupied by four aircraft loaded with more than 1,000 passengers, DeSaulnier spent two years researching aviation and near-miss incidents in consultation with experts in the field, including Capt. "Sully" Sullenberger, culminating in authoring the Safe Landings Act.

Provisions from this legislation that were integrated into the FAA Reauthorization Act include:

• The creation of a Task Force on Human Factors in Aviation Safety to review and provide recommendations on pilot operations and training; and
• Several protections from near-misses and safety risks, including
  • Identifying the need for airport surface surveillance and safety systems,
  • Requiring data analysis of safety incidents to find and address underlying patterns, and
  • Ensuring protections for pilots in the use of cockpit voice recorders for safety investigations to learn more when incidents do occur.

DeSaulnier, who is a senior member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, was also successful in advocating for the inclusion of the following initiatives in the FAA Reauthorization bill:

• A requirement to increase cockpit voice recorders’ audio data storage to 25 hours to aid in investigating safety incidents;
• Provisions that invest $1 billion in airport climate resiliency to deal with extreme weather events; and
• Stronger whistleblower protections for aviation workers.

"With a chance only every five years to reauthorize the FAA and as dangerous near-miss aviation incidents are on the rise, I am proud of our work to make these crucial changes that will benefit and protect American workers and consumers," DeSaulnier said.

DeSaulnier is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives with constituents in the cities of Alamo, Antioch (partially), Brentwood, Byron, Clayton, Concord, Danville, Dublin, Lafayette, Martinez (partially), Moraga, Oakley, Orinda, Pacheco, Pleasant Hill, San Ramon and Walnut Creek.