Congressman Cohen Urges FAA to Implement EVAC Act

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9), the Ranking Member of the Aviation Subcommittee, discussed implementation of the 2024 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization law, including his EVAC Act, at a full Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing on an update of the measure on the anniversary of its passage.

During the hearing, Congressman Cohen said in part: 

“We passed a great bill last year but…implementation is what’s important and right now the FAA is clearly not tracking what they were intended to do, what we expected…” 

In his questions to expert witnesses, Congressman Cohen suggested that the FAA “immediately” prohibit Department of Defense helicopters from operating in the flight paths of commercial airliners to prevent the kind of accident that led to 67 fatalities near Reagan National Airport in January. He also asked about the telecommunications outages that have been occurring at Newark Liberty International Airport. He also inquired on the status of the study called for in his Emergency Vacating of Aircraft Cabin (EVAC) Act, to determine whether a realistic cohort of air travelers can evacuate a plane within the mandated 90 seconds, required to be completed by tomorrow’s May 16 deadline. 

See his line of questions here.

Witnesses at today’s hearings were:

• Jodi Baker, Deputy Associate Administrator of Aviation Safety, Federal Aviation Administration;
• Wayne Heibeck, Deputy Associate Administrator of Airports, Federal Aviation Administration;
• Frank McIntosh, Deputy Chief Operating Officer of Air Traffic Organization, Federal Aviation Administration; and
• Derrick Collins, Director of Physical Infrastructure, United States Government Accountability Office.

# # #