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WASHINGTON — Nationwide Transportation Security Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy will inform lawmakers she is dedicated to getting security suggestions authorised and federal businesses investigating.
The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee is holding a listening to Wednesday on President Joe Biden's nomination of Homendy to serve a brand new time period on the board that investigates air, rail, maritime, pipeline and freeway accidents.
“On the scene, my most essential responsibility is to stroll households via what is commonly the worst day of their lives. That's why I battle so laborious for NTSB security suggestions,” Homendy mentioned, pledging to proceed her service. She’s going to say as per her written testimony. “As a robust advocate of bettering transportation security.”
Homendy was an on-scene board member for final month's Baltimore bridge collapse and the airborne emergency attributable to the explosion of a door panel on an Alaska Airways Boeing 737 Max 9 on Jan. 5.
Homendy, who has served on the board since 2018 and chair since August 2021, was beforehand a senior legislative staffer engaged on transportation points.
She’s going to inform senators that the NTSB will rent 71 individuals in 2023, in comparison with solely 7 in 2017, bringing its workforce to 430. The NTSB receives 2,200 home and 450 international circumstances yearly throughout each mode of transportation, in keeping with his testimony seen by Reuters.
Final month, Homendy criticized Boeing's lack of cooperation within the door plug investigation, together with failing to reveal the names of 25 door crew employees on the 737 manufacturing facility in Renton, Washington. Following Homendy's feedback, Boeing offered 25 names. Boeing denied failing to cooperate.
They’ve urged motion after a collection of near-miss aviation security incidents, and urged the Federal Aviation Administration to order the seize of 25 hours of knowledge from the prevailing two-hour loop with cockpit voice-recorders in all plane Is.
Homendy has additionally pushed for brand spanking new prepare security measures following the February 2023 derailment of a Norfolk Southern-operated prepare in East Palestine, Ohio.
Homendy has beforehand criticized the Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration (NHTSA) for failing to make sure driver help methods akin to Tesla Autopilot or new self-driving automobiles are protected.
NHTSA declined to undertake the NTSB's suggestions, stating that drivers are anticipated to “stay totally and constantly engaged within the driving process”, however in December criticized the dearth of Autopilot safeguards to stop driver abuse. As a result of which Tesla was pressured to recall 2 million automobiles.
Tesla mentioned in December that it didn’t agree with NHTSA's evaluation, however would deploy an over-the-air software program replace that might “moreover encourage drivers to observe their continued driving accountability when utilizing Autopilot.” Will embrace controls and alerts”.