Although I am glad the House of Representatives is taking a step in the right direction by reauthorizing the FAA for a few months, I am frustrated that we are not going as far as we could to protect lives that could be easily saved. On July 3, 2015, just over a year ago, there was a Flight for Life crash in Frisco, Colorado, in my district. The pilot died, and one person on board is still recovering from major burns. The death was caused not because of speed or pilot error, but simply because the fuel system didn't have a crash-resistant system that is already mandated in military helicopters. Representative Perlmutter and I have introduced the Helicopter Fuel System Safety Act, and that would require the FAA to install crash- resistant fuel systems in newly manufactured helicopters by December 31, 2016. I am glad this reauthorization language moves the FAA in that direction, but I hope that we can move forward quickly to save lives and fix this. I was also disappointed I wasn't allowed to offer several other amendments, including one which would have given local airports more flexibility in limiting flights, something of great concern for my district around flight noise for constituents near Longmont.…
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