Buffalo, New York- May 18, 2009- Following a week of disturbing revelations at the National Transportation Safety Board’s public hearings concerning the crash of Continental Flight 3407 operated by Colgan Air on February 12th, the ‘Families of Continental Flight 3407’ turn their attention to the Senate’s Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
The committee, which is chaired by Senator Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, will be holding a confirmation hearing on the candidacy of Captain Randy Babbitt, President Obama’s nominee for the post of Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), on Tuesday, May 19th, at 11am, in room 253 of The Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. Family members will be in attendance at the hearing, and also plan on viewing it via webcast on the Committee’s website at www.commerce.senate.gov.
“As we move forward, the leadership of the FAA Administrator is going to be critical in rectifying so many of the widespread safety issues revealed at the 3407 hearings,” stated Scott Maurer, whose daughter Lorin Maurer was a passenger on the flight. “I sensed a genuine concern for safety in our meeting with Captain Babbitt last week, and I hope that he will be questioned at the hearing on some of the specifics of what he hopes to accomplish, and also his proposed timetable for doing so. As always, it is our fervent hope that our government and its representatives do everything they can to prevent an unspeakable tragedy like this from happening again.”
The group, which conducted meetings with 13 members of the Aviation Subcommittee last week, also plans to meet with the office of Senator Olympia Snowe (ME) on Tuesday, as well as with representatives of the NTSB.
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The ‘Families of Continental Flight 3407’ group was immediately organized after the crash as a support network and an activist group to work on aviation safety reform. Visit the group’s website at www.3407memorial.com to learn more about their efforts.