Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 9, 1994 TAG: 9412100028
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-21 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The Federal Aviation Administration announced Thursday what it called a major step in its new effort to regulate regional airlines under the stricter rules, a move recently recommended by the National Transportation Safety Board. The FAA proposed a rule that commuter carriers operating planes with 10 or more seats must comply with standards set for training crew members on large aircraft.
The rule also would require commuter airlines to provide resource management training to improve communication and coordination between crew members.
Anthony Broderick, FAA's associate administrator for regulation and certification, said the agency is aiming to have all the new rules in place by the end of next year.
He called the new training rule the ``biggest single improvement'' for commuter airlines.
FAA Administrator David R. Hinson stressed that while commuter carriers have had more accidents than major airlines, they are safe overall.
``We are in 1994 progressing along ... in what so far may be the safest year in the history of commuter aviation,'' Hinson said. ``It clearly has not been a good year for larger aircraft, with three accidents.''
The new rule also would encourage, but not require, commuter carriers to use sophisticated flight simulators in their pilot training. The National Transportation Safety Board had recommended that simulators be required.
The safety board issued its recommendations at the conclusion of a nine-month study of the safety of regional and commuter airlines. Several recent crashes, including those in northern Indiana, Hibbing, Minn., and Columbus, Ohio, have prompted concern about the safety of these carriers.
Last month, Hinson said the agency was moving to eliminate differences in the way large and small airlines are regulated and promised increased safety inspections nationwide. There was no timetable given at the time for changes in the regulations, which typically take months or years to develop and put into effect.
In addition to crew training, the changes would tighten safety inspections of commuter aircraft; reduce the number of hours commuter pilots can fly; and require dispatchers to assist crews in checking the weather, determining the weight and balance of the plane, planning routes and performing other ground duties.
Regional airlines feeding passengers to major carriers - and often operating under the colors of those carriers - have proliferated in recent years. Current rules impose tougher standards on planes with 31 or more seats, while the standards are less strict for smaller planes.
by CNB