U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) on June 2 sponsored legislation to bolster aviation safety in the United States by improving the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) aircraft certification process.
“After reviewing the evidence from incident reports, soliciting recommendations from aviation experts, speaking to witnesses and stakeholders, and holding a series of hearings on aviation safety, I am introducing a bill that would take important steps to improve passenger aircraft regulations and safety,” said Sen. Wicker, chairman of the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, referring to investigations related to recent 737 MAX crashes.
Sen. Wicker introduced the Aircraft Safety Improvement Act of 2020, S. 3866, which also would codify recommendations from a number of reviews and mandate adoption of Safety Management Systems (SMS) for manufacturers.
If enacted, S. 3866 also would require the FAA to review its assumptions regarding pilot reaction time, and ensure a representative sample of pilots from around the world participate in flight testing, according to a bill summary provided by Sen. Wicker’s office.
Additionally, the bill would require the FAA to review and reassess assumptions related to “human factors” – the interface between human and machine – when certifying aircraft, particularly those situations involving multiple cockpit alerts and automation, among other provisions, according to the bill summary.
The Commerce Committee on June 17 will hold a hearing on the FAA’s oversight of its certification processes, according to Sen. Wicker’s office, which said that FAA Administrator Steve Dickson will testify regarding issues associated with the design, development, certification, and operation of the Boeing 737 MAX following international accidents during the last two years.