Providing for Consideration of H.R. Faa Reauthorization Act of Providing for Consideration of H.R. Providing for the Operations of the Federal Columbia River Power System; and Providing for Proceedings During the Period From April Through May 2018
Floor Speech
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Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
Recently, our attention was rightly focused on one passenger who was killed after jet engine failure.
Two years ago, July 30, 2016, 16 people were killed near Lockhart, Texas, in the deadliest commercial balloon crash in our Nation's history and the worst aviation disaster of any type in the last decade.
After that crash, this photo shows all that was left. Rightly, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board expressed his disappointment that the Federal Aviation Administration appears to be shirking its responsibility for the many people who go out to enjoy a commercial balloon flight.
Since 2016, I have repeatedly urged the FAA to adopt a safety measure, long recommended by the NTSB, to help avert tragedies like this.
The NTSB found that the FAA's refusal to require commercial balloon operators to obtain a medical certificate that they are suitable for flying contributed to this crash where so many were harmed.
My bipartisan amendment, that has been approved by the Rules Committee, would end this exemption for commercial balloon operations to ensure that there is not another family in America that is at risk of injury or death from an impaired pilot.
Continued inaction is inexcusable and risks condemning more to death.
Uniting in Caldwell County around the courthouse in morning prayer to remember the victims, a bell rang 16 times for each person who was lost; families, coming together in their hurt, lovingly embraced by that community.
You cannot un-ring a bell, and we cannot bring the precious lives back that were lost in this crash. But from their loss, we can pass an amendment that will help ensure that no other family needlessly suffers.
Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the amendment in the course of the debate.
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