Brian Higgins: “No family or community should have to relive the devastating loss we felt on February 12, 2009, the day Colgan Air…”

“No family or community should have to relive the devastating loss we felt on February 12, 2009, the day Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashed in western New York, killing all aboard and one on the ground. Thanks to the tireless efforts of the Flight 3407 families and a bipartisan collection of Members of Congress, new flight safety standards have saved other families from similar pain, achieving 7 years of no commercial airline fatalities. Yet some, including the new nominee to the National Transportation Safety Board, are questioning the need for these hard-fought, commonsense flight safety and training standards. You have a right to know which airline is flying your plane, you have a right to know that your pilot is well rested, and you have a right to know that the pilot is adequately trained to handle any challenges that might occur in flight. For these rights and for enhanced safety, you can thank the families of Flight 3407 for their work in reaching these standards, and you can join me in fighting to make sure that we keep them. ____________________”