U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer Urges FAA Administrator Michael Huerta to Apply Same Rest Rules to Cargo and Passenger Pilots

New Rest Rules Ignore Congressional Intent – Allowing Cargo Pilots to be on Duty 60 Percent Longer Than Passenger Pilots
 
Washington D.C. – U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) sent a letter to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Michael Huerta today urging him to close a loophole that left cargo pilots out of new rest rules and permits them to fly with less rest than commercial pilots. 

“In January, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) finalized a rule that set minimum rest and duty requirements to combat pilot fatigue,” Senator Boxer wrote. “While I support this new rule, I am disappointed and alarmed that the FAA decided to exempt cargo pilots from its requirements.” 

In February, the National Transportation Safety Board released a never-before-heard conversation between pilots of the tragic Birmingham, Alabama cargo plane crash displaying their concern for their own fatigue, and for the differing rules on rest for cargo pilots as opposed to passenger pilots. Captain Cerea Beal Jr. and First Officer Shanda Fannin were both killed in the crash. 

Read more here:   http://www.boxer.senate.gov