New safety regulations announced by the FAA were influenced in part by the 2009 crash of Continental Flight 3407, but they may not be implemented until 2013 and that time frame has angered some safety activists. Rules affecting pilot rest requirements and training passed through Congress two years ago attached to an implementation date of Oct. 1, 2011. The FAA, citing the large volume of public comments they received, has announced that the final rule will not be ready until Oct. 19, 2013. Some surviving family members worked together to push for changes amid concerns over pilot rest and training requirements. The FAA says it’s working aggressively to improve safety.
The FAA said in a statement that it “continues to work on a final rule to update the commercial pilot training requirements,” BuffaloNews.com reported. The agency says it is also working to improve stall and upset recovery training requirements. A man who lost his daughter in the crash of Flight 3407 told the newspaper, “Once again, we are reminded that we can never relax, and that we must read the fine print in each and every one of these monthly government reports, or else these lobbyists are going to run circles around us.” Airlines have opposed the application of new fatigue rules. The crash of Flight 2407 near Buffalo, N.Y., killed all 49 aboard, plus one on the ground.Neither pilot of Flight 3407 had slept in a bed the night before the accident.The NTSB did not cite fatigue as a causal factor affecting the crash.
