[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2332 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2332

 To improve scheduled air service safety through enhanced aeronautical 
  experience requirements for applicants seeking an airline transport 
 pilot certificate with an airplane category and class rating, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 18, 2023

 Ms. Duckworth introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To improve scheduled air service safety through enhanced aeronautical 
  experience requirements for applicants seeking an airline transport 
 pilot certificate with an airplane category and class rating, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Experienced Pilots Save Lives Act of 
2023''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The commercial aviation system is experiencing an 
        unusual number of safety challenges as evidenced by multiple 
        near-miss incidents in calendar year 2023 involving aircraft 
        operated by part 121 air carriers.
            (2) These near-miss commercial aviation incidents include--
                    (A) at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, 
                a Boeing 737-700 aircraft operated by Southwest 
                Airlines nearly colliding with a Boeing 767 cargo 
                aircraft operated by FedEx, with the National 
                Transportation Safety Board finding that the two 
                aircraft likely came within 100 feet of each other in 
                the near-miss incident;
                    (B) at Washington Reagan National Airport, a runway 
                incursion by an Embraer 175 aircraft operated by 
                Republic Airways where it crossed into a runway that 
                air traffic control had already cleared an Airbus A319 
                aircraft operated by United Airlines for takeoff, 
                forcing the takeoff to be aborted;
                    (C) at Bob Hope Burbank Airport, a runway incursion 
                incident where a CRJ900 aircraft operated by Mesa 
                Airlines was forced to abort a landing on approach 
                because an Embraer 175 aircraft operated by SkyWest 
                Airlines had yet to take off; and
                    (D) at Boston Logan International Airport, an 
                incident where an Embraer 190 operated by JetBlue was 
                forced to take evasive action after a Learjet 60 
                operated by a private charter carrier initiated takeoff 
                without clearance from a runway that intersected the 
                runway that the Embraer 190 had been cleared to use for 
                landing.
            (3) Following this surge of near-miss incidents involving 
        part 121 air carriers, the National Transportation Safety Board 
        initiated a comprehensive investigation of these incidents to 
        identify commonalities that may have contributed to the 
        incidents, such as communication breakdowns, situational 
        awareness lapses, and inadequate training. This investigation 
        is active and ongoing.
            (4) The spike in troubling near-miss incidents also spurred 
        the Federal Aviation Administration to convene an Aviation 
        Surface Safety Summit on March 15, 2023, where the Acting 
        Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration warned 
        summit participants and the aviation industry, ``As I mentioned 
        in my call to action, the biggest mistake we can make as an 
        industry is to become complacent. As a safety professional, if 
        you are comfortable it means you're probably missing 
        something.''.
            (5) The Chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, 
        the Honorable Jennifer Homendy, also addressed summit 
        participants and called on the aviation community to recognize 
        that, ``These recent incidents must serve as a wake-up call for 
        every single one of us, before something more catastrophic 
        occurs. Before lives are lost.''.
            (6) A former Chair of the National Transportation Safety 
        Board, the Honorable Robert Sumwalt, described the surge of 
        near-miss commercial aviation incidents in 2023 as a red flag, 
        stating, ``I look at them like a fever in a human body and that 
        it is signaling that something is not right. I think these are 
        very much precursor events that could be signaling that there's 
        something more serious in the system.''.
            (7) Although the National Transportation Safety Board 
        investigation of these 2023 incidents is active and ongoing, 
        certain aviation professionals and experts have hypothesized 
        that the combination of mass buyouts of experienced commercial 
        aviation pilots and the post-pandemic surge in demand for 
        commercial air travel have resulted in a perfect storm of 
        higher flight volume necessitating widespread hiring that has 
        lowered the overall experience level among pilots, first 
        officers, air traffic controllers, and mechanics.
            (8) Other organizations, such as the Regional Airline 
        Association, have expressed concern over the quality of flight 
        hours that aspiring pilots accrue, alleging that too many hours 
        are gained through flying aircraft in optimal weather 
        conditions at flight schools in Arizona and Florida, depriving 
        pilots of gaining real-world flight experience that reflects 
        the typical part 121 operating environment, which features 
        cross-country flights, flights with clouds, flights in 
        inclement weather, and flights at night, among other 
        conditions.
            (9) Congress recognized the importance of quality in 
        addition to quantity when establishing minimum flight hours 
        requirements to obtain an airline transport pilot certificate, 
        specifically including in subsection (c)(2) of section 217 of 
        the Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration 
        Extension Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-216) the following 
        requirement: ``The total flight hours required by the 
        Administrator under subsection (b)(1) shall include sufficient 
        flight hours, as determined by the Administrator, in difficult 
        operational conditions that may be encountered by an air 
        carrier to enable a pilot to operate safely in such 
        conditions.''.
            (10) The alarming rise of near-miss incidents involving 
        part 121 carriers in 2023 warrants the Federal Aviation 
        Administration to strengthen current regulations governing the 
        specific minimum number of hours that pilots must earn in 
        different types of flight while accruing flight hours towards 
        the 1,500-hour minimum, which should include increasing the 
        minimum hours requirement for cross-country flight time, night 
        flight time, flight time in the class of airplane for which a 
        rating is sought, instrument flight time in actual instrument 
        conditions, and cross-country and night flight time in an 
        airplane where the individual seeking an airline transport 
        pilot certificate serves as the pilot in command, or as second 
        in command performing the duties of a pilot in command while 
        under the supervision of a pilot in command.

SEC. 3. ENHANCING MINIMUM FLIGHT HOURS REQUIREMENTS FOR DIFFICULT 
              OPERATIONAL CONDITIONS.

    Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall amend part 
61.159 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, to--
            (1) preserve the minimum total flight hours requirement 
        that requires a person applying for an airline transport pilot 
        certificate with an airplane category and class rating to have 
        at least 1,500 hours of total time as a pilot; and
            (2) modify the minimum flight time requirements for 
        specific types of flight hours in difficult operational 
        conditions to require that the 1,500 hours of total time as a 
        pilot includes at least--
                    (A) 900 hours of cross-country flight time;
                    (B) 200 hours of night flight time;
                    (C) 375 hours of flight time in the class of 
                airplane for the rating sought;
                    (D) 75 hours of instrument flight time, in actual 
                instrument conditions;
                    (E) 200 hours of cross-country flight time in an 
                airplane as a pilot in command, or as second in command 
                performing the duties of pilot in command while under 
                the supervision of a pilot in command, or any 
                combination thereof; and
                    (F) 50 hours of night flight time in an airplane as 
                a pilot in command, or as second in command performing 
                the duties of pilot in command while under the 
                supervision of a pilot in command, or any combination 
                thereof.

SEC. 4. MINIMUM FULL FLIGHT SIMULATOR STANDARDS FOR AIRLINE TRANSPORT 
              PILOT CERTIFICATION CREDIT.

    Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall conduct a 
rulemaking proceeding to amend part 61.159 of title 14, Code of Federal 
Regulations, to require that hours in a full flight simulator 
representing the class of airplane for a rating sought shall only be 
credited toward the flight time requirement if that full flight 
simulator features at least--
            (1) 6 degrees of freedom motion; and
            (2) accurate aerodynamic modeling, including--
                    (A) extended envelope modeling featuring high angle 
                of attack and sideslip data ranges; and
                    (B) maximum simulator fidelity in reproducing stall 
                characteristics of the specific airplane the simulator 
                represents to enable users to conduct effective upset 
                stall recovery training with pitch attitudes at or 
                below the horizon in the special events training 
                programs of air carriers.
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