Buffalo, New York- June 15, 2009- In the wake of the Federal Aviation Administration’s ‘Call to Action’ safety summit held today, the “Families of Continental Flight 3407” sent a letter to FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt urging him not to be satisfied with voluntary measures and to push for more stringent and mandatory regulation of the industry.
Included in the letter, the Families of Continental Flight 3407 state, “We cannot emphasize enough that our recent experience gives us little faith in the airlines’ ability to self-monitor or their willingness to comply with voluntary recommendations. Our loved ones bought tickets under the Continental name expecting a certain high level of service, and we feel that this trust was grossly violated.” The families went on to urge Administrator Babbitt to “not just be satisfied with the discussions held at this conference, but to work together with our congressional leaders to translate the ideas generated by these talks into tougher, mandatory measures for commercial airlines in the area of safety.”
Additionally, the group announced the arrangement of a conference call to be held between group members and Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, to be held on the evening on June 16th.
“We are thrilled to have the chance to discuss the wide-ranging issues that have been revealed in this investigation with Secretary LaHood,” stated Mike Quimby of Bemus Point, New York, who lost his father-in-law, Brad Green, Sr., in the tragedy. “Of course, the ultimate test of our leaders is not going to be their words now; but their actions down the road.”