Senators Sam Graves & Garret Graves comment on expert review of FAA’s certification process

Washington, D.C. - Statements of Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Ranking Member Sam Graves (R-MO) and Subcommittee on Aviation Ranking Member Garret Graves (R-LA) regarding a newly released report on the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) certification process:

Ranking Member Sam Graves: “Today, the Special Committee released a completely consensus-based report that confirms aviation in the United States is safe and that we remain the global gold standard for aviation safety.  This unbiased, expert review clearly dispels the narrative that our aviation certification system is broken and must be completely rebuilt in the wake of the two 737 MAX accidents.  The Special Committee has concluded that neither our ‘extremely safe’ aviation system nor the FAA’s certification processes should be dismantled, and that doing so could jeopardize safety.  I commend the Special Committee for their work and thoughtfulness and especially want to thank Captain Moak and General McDew for their leadership in completing this review.  Safety is the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s top priority, and in the wake of these tragic accidents we will strongly consider the Special Committee’s consensus-based recommendations to improve our aviation system.”

Ranking Member Garret Graves:  “People, their safety, and extracting every possible lesson from these tragedies is everyone’s goal, and the Special Committee has seriously and soberly analyzed our system, largely finding it to be ‘effective…rigorous, [and] robust.’  We are hopeful this non-partisan report will be a roadmap for additional improvements and look forward to hearing from the other technical experts currently working to ensure that our aviation systems remain the safest and most effective in the world.”

Background Information: The Special Committee to review the Federal Aviation Administration’s Aircraft Certification Process was appointed in April 2019 by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, specifically tasked with broadly examining the FAA’s aircraft certification processes.

According to the Special Committee report:

“The Committee found the FAA’s overall certification system to be effective.”

“While FAA’s certification process is rigorous, robust, and overseen by engineers, inspectors, test pilots, and managers committed to the primacy of safety, there are areas where improvement can be made.”

No action should be taken “that would systematically dismantle the FAA’s current certification system and its use of delegated authority” because such an action “could undermine the collaboration and expertise that undergird the current certification system, jeopardizing the remarkable level of safety that has been attained in recent decades.”