Remarks as prepared for delivery
Good morning, Chair Duckworth, Ranking Member Moran, and Members of the Subcommittee. Thank you for holding this important hearing and for the opportunity to be here today.
I want to start by emphasizing our incredible safety record.
We have the safest airspace in the world, period.
The critical efforts of everyone in this room have contributed to our reputation as the world’s “gold standard” for aviation safety.
We have a lot to be proud of.
But we can make aviation even safer.
As you can see from these charts, there were 23 serious runway incursions in FY23, up from 16 in FY22 and 11 a decade ago.
Runway incursions are also happening at a faster rate — that’s all runway incursions and the most serious.
While these events are incredibly rare, our safety system is showing clear signs of strain that we cannot ignore.
The NTSB has opened investigations into seven runway incursions this year alone; in over half, the aircraft got within several hundred feet of one another.
We also opened an investigation into a runway collision between two business jets that occurred two weeks ago in Houston.
Combined, these events put more than 1,300 lives at risk.
That’s on top of three wrong-surface landings we recently investigated.
Thankfully, no one was hurt or seriously injured in any of these incidents.
But they could have been.
It only takes one missed warning to become a tragedy…one incorrect response to destroy public confidence in our system built over decades.
These incidents must serve as a wake-up call before something more catastrophic occurs.
We issued this same warning after the 2017 incident at SFO, where an A320 came close to colliding with an A340 and three other airliners on a taxiway.
The incident aircraft flew over the A340 at an altitude of 60 feet before it began climbing, which resulted in only 10 to 20 feet of vertical separation. All told, more than 1,000 people were at imminent risk of serious injury or death.
I know you’re going to want to ask me about our open investigations. The NTSB is incredibly careful to gather all the facts and evidence around an incident before drawing conclusions or making safety recommendations. While I cannot discuss the details of our open investigations, I can share a few issues we’re seeing.
In the wake of the pandemic, we’re experiencing a massive resurgence of air traffic.
But we’re also seeing significant ATC staffing shortages, resulting in mandatory overtime, fatigue, distraction, and less opportunity for meaningful, value-added training.
On the flight deck, fatigue and distraction are leading to deviations from Federal Aviation Regulations.
Across the entire industry, we have a newer workforce who need training and mentorship.
And we’re seeing people struggle with significant mental health challenges.
All of this is compounded by a lack of technology to ensure redundancy and protect against human error.
Redundancy is the foundation of our stellar aviation safety record; it has served as the model for preventing accidents and crashes in other modes of transportation.
All that’s to say, the current strain on our aviation system and its workforce cannot be underestimated.
Before I close, I want to thank all of you for being staunch supporters of the NTSB. But I need your help in getting the NTSB the resources to carry out our vital safety mission.
We received $145 million in the President’s FY24 budget, which is included in the House mark. We need the Senate to match that number.
Our agency’s staffing and funding levels have remained stagnant since 1997. The small increases we received went to well-deserved pay increases for our staff.
Since I became Chair, we’ve accomplished a lot. We’ve eliminated our investigation backlog — from nearly 500 investigations to zero.
We’ve dramatically increased staffing to meet increasingly complex challenges.
And we’re making significant congressionally mandated upgrades to our IT, including cybersecurity.
Thank you for your continued support.
I’m happy to answer any questions you may have.
