Political Quotes

“I rise, alongside my colleague Senator Warner, to comment on a near-miss incident that occurred yesterday at Reagan National Airport and what it means in the context of the FAA reauthorization bill that we are considering and will take up likely right after recess. The incident yesterday was a big warning light flashing red, telling Congress not to take steps that would weaken the safety of this airport. Yesterday morning, at 7:40 a.m., a Southwest Airlines plane and a JetBlue plane nearly collided while simultaneously attempting to cross the same runway. One flight was preparing to take off from runway 4, which is a smaller commuter runway, while the other was attempting to cross from an apron to the main runway, runway 1, that carries 90 percent of the flights in and out of DCA. Yesterday was not an unusually busy day; it was a typically busy day on the Nation's busiest runway at DCA. And while the FAA is still investigating the incident, there is disturbing audio that is circulating that I hope every Member of this body will listen to. In the audio, you can hear air traffic controllers frantically yelling at each plane over the communications to ``Stop! Stop!'' before both planes were able to halt their movements and narrowly avoid a collision. We are all relieved that disaster was averted and that no injuries or damages occurred, thanks to the actions of the ATC professionals at DCA.…”