Buffalo, New York- June 8, 2009- Mike Loftus, who lost his twenty four year old daughter Madeline on Continental Flight 3407 and is a former commercial airline pilot, has been invited to testify in front of the House Aviation Subcommittee at its hearing this week.
The hearing, to be held at 10:00 am on Thursday, June 11th in Room 2167 of the Rayburn House Office Building, will focus on ‘Regional Air Carriers and Pilot Workforce Issues.’
“It is going to be a tremendous honor to testify on behalf of our family group. This was the first time Madeline ever bought her own plane ticket, and she was so proud of herself”, stated Loftus, who flew commercially for 26 years. “As a former pilot, I have been extremely disappointed in what I’ve learned in terms of the safety culture at Colgan Air. I hope that our group is able to bring about change to make sure that there is one level of safety for both the major and regional carriers, not just in terms of the same standards on paper, but rather in how these standards are trained and enforced by both the airlines and the FAA.”
The House hearing will come on the heels of a Senate Aviation Subcommittee meeting, titled “Aviation Safety and the FAA’s Role in the Oversight of Air Carriers”, which will be held on Wednesday, June 10th, at 2:30 pm in Room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building. Family members will be in attendance at both hearings.