[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Pages 3943-3944]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             PILOT FATIGUE

  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, this morning, in addition to these 
comments that I just made, I want to talk about an amendment I am 
trying to get a vote on to the FAA bill, the Federal Aviation 
Administration bill, which is before us. This issue is another no-
brainer.
  Later this morning, I will meet with Captain ``Sully'' Sullenberger. 
I think you remember him. He was the ``Hero of the Hudson.'' He was the 
one who miraculously landed U.S. Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson 
River on January 15, 2009. Because of his incredible skill, he saved 
the lives of all 155 passengers and crew.
  When it comes to safety--safety, in terms of our pilots being able to 
think clearly and not be suffering from fatigue, who could be better 
than Captain Sullenberger? I am going to stand with him. I am going to 
explain the issue that he and I are fighting for.
  I first got into this issue--which is safety standards for all 
pilots--in 2009 when Colgan Airlines Flight 3407 crashed into a home 
near Buffalo, NY, killing 50 people. After that tragic crash, Senator 
Snowe and I wrote legislation that updated pilot and fatigue

[[Page 3944]]

regulations. They had been written originally in the 1940s.
  Clearly, there is a lot of scientific research on what happens when 
you have a lack of rest. We needed to see a new rule. So, because of 
the efforts of Senator Snowe and me, the Department of Transportation 
issued a rule in 2011 to ensure adequate rest for passenger pilots, 
which was great.
  Shockingly, they left out cargo pilots. So I am going to show you a 
picture of two planes--two planes. Look at those planes. They look 
exactly the same. They share the same airspace, the same airports, and 
the same runways. But guess what? Because of the disparity in this rule 
from the FAA, the pilots are not treated the same. Now, passenger 
pilots cannot fly more than 9 hours in a day, while cargo pilots have 
been forced to fly up to 16 hours a day. Let me say it again. The rule 
that came out of the FAA said: If you are a passenger pilot, you can 
only fly up to 9 hours a day, but if you fly a cargo plane the same 
size, you can fly up to 16 hours a day. How does this make sense? It is 
dangerous. It is dangerous. I will show you how. But our top safety 
board, NTSB, the National Transportation Safety Board, has made 
reducing pilot fatigue a priority, mentioning it is on their top 10 
list of most wanted safety requirements for years.
  So follow me. In 2011, we had the rule. The rule left out cargo 
pilots. Since then, I have been trying, along with colleagues 
Klobuchar, Cantwell, and others, to change this. Now, let's look at 
what Captain Sullenberger has said about this issue. He said it about 
our bill: You wouldn't want your surgeon operating on you after only 5 
hours of sleep or your passenger pilot flying the airplane after only 5 
hours of sleep. And you certainly wouldn't want a cargo pilot flying a 
large plane over your house at 3 a.m. on 5 hours of sleep, trying to 
find the airport and land.
  They are working up to 16 hours without adequate opportunity for 
rest, so what we say in our amendment is simple: We want parity. We 
want the same periods of flying time for both pilots.
  Now you say: Well, Senator Boxer, have there been any accidents? Yes. 
Since 1990, there have been 14 U.S. cargo plane crashes involving 
fatigue, including a UPS crash in Birmingham, AL, in 2013 that killed 
two crew members.
  In that tragedy, the NTSB cited pilot fatigue as a factor. Let's 
listen to the pilot conversation, which was retrieved after the crash. 
Let's hear what those pilots, who were exhausted, said to one another. 
Then, if the Senate does not want to have a vote on this, I am going to 
stand on my feet until we do because, for sure, one of these planes is 
going to crash, whether it is in California or Nebraska or Arkansas or 
anywhere else in this Nation.
  Listen to this.
  Pilot 1: I mean, I don't get it. You know, it should be one level of 
safety for everybody.
  Pilot 2: It makes no sense at all.
  Pilot 1: No, it doesn't at all.
  Pilot 2: And to be honest, it should be across the board. To be 
honest, in my opinion, whether you are flying passengers or cargo, if 
you are flying this time of day, you know, fatigue is definitely----
  Pilot 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
  Pilot 2: When my alarm went off, I mean, I'm thinking, I'm so tired.
  Pilot 1: I know.
  Well, let's look at what happened to this plane after this 
conversation. Just look at what happened to this plane. I think it is 
important that everybody look at it. It went down. It went down. Now, 
when that flight went down, I honestly thought: The FAA is going to 
change. They are going to pass a rule. They are going to make sure that 
all pilots get that necessary rest. But they did not. They did not. One 
hour after that conversation I shared with you, Mr. President, this is 
what happened to that plane.
  This dangerous double standard risks lives in the air and on the 
ground, and it cannot continue. That is why our amendment and our bill, 
which we base the amendment on, are endorsed not only by Captain Sully 
but also by the Air Line Pilots Association, the Independent Pilots 
Association, the Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations, the 
Teamsters Aviation Division, and the Allied Pilots Association.
  Let me just ask a rhetorical question. If we don't listen to pilots, 
who are in those planes, on what they need to fly safely, who on Earth 
are we listening to? And yet I can't get a vote on this. So far, I 
can't get a vote. I am hoping I will. Let people stand in the well and 
vote against this safety provision, and the next time there is a crash, 
they will answer for it. Stand up and be counted. We need a vote on 
this provision. One level of safety for all pilots is one level of 
safety for the public.
  I am proud to stand with Captain Sullenberger and all the pilots in 
America and the organizations that represent them to say this: If this 
is an FAA bill, if this is the Federal aviation bill and we have all 
kinds of goodies and tax breaks and this and that in there--which is a 
whole other conversation--the least we can do is to stand up for 
safety. The least we can do is to stand up for safety. I will insist on 
a vote. I will stand on my feet until I get a vote, and I know the 
pilots are going to be all over this place today knocking on doors.
  The American people don't think we are doing anything for them. We 
have the worst rating. My friends beat up on President Obama, but he 
has the same ratings as Ronald Reagan during his time in the same 
timeframe--same ratings as Ronald Reagan, their hero. We are down in 
the gutter with our ratings because we put special interests ahead of 
the people.
  Now, maybe there are a few special interests that don't want to pay 
their pilots enough money, that don't want to give their pilots rest--
too bad. They are wrong. They are jeopardizing lives on the ground. It 
is penny-wise and pound-foolish to have someone suffering from pilot 
fatigue flying over your home wherever you live in America.
  All I want is a vote. I am just asking for a vote. So far, I do not 
have that commitment, but we are working hard. We are hoping to get it. 
That is why I came here today, and that is why I will be standing with 
Captain Sullenberger later this morning--to call for a vote to make 
sure that after 9 hours of flight, pilots get adequate rest--not after 
16 hours--and to make sure there is parity, fairness, and equality 
between those flying a passenger jet and those flying a cargo jet. The 
fact of the matter is they share the same airspace, they fly over the 
same homes, and they deserve not to be exhausted as they maneuver their 
planes.
  I thank the Chair, and I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nebraska.

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