Nick Langworthy: “In 2009, Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashed in Clarence, New York, a community in my district in western New York, killing…”

“In 2009, Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashed in Clarence, New York, a community in my district in western New York, killing 49 passengers and 1 person on the ground. As a congressional staffer at the time, I was there on the ground at the crash site. I saw firsthand the sights and the sounds and the grief of the victims' families as they grappled with the reality that their loved ones were gone. The crash was ruled a result of pilot error. A year later, those families successfully fought to implement a set of enhanced safety standards, including requiring pilots to obtain 1,500 hours of training. The results are indisputable. Since its enactment, domestic airline fatalities have dropped 99.8 percent. Simply put, they are working, and our skies are the safest they have ever been. My amendment protects the integrity of the 1,500-hour flight training requirement in the face of efforts to lower pilot training standards and jeopardize the safety of passengers and crew alike. As Captain Sully Sullenberger, the miracle on the Hudson pilot, has said, while simulators have their place for experienced pilots, they are not a replacement for in-the-sky training, and this requirement must be protected. Our job as elected leaders is to protect public safety and to help ensure that no other family suffers the heartbreak of losing a loved one to an avoidable air tragedy. Mr.…”