With help from Brianna Gurciullo and Stephanie Beasley
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— Federal safety investigators called for NHTSA to make its safety guidelines for autonomous vehicle operators mandatory, faulting the agency’s “lax” regulation in part for an Uber crash that killed a woman last year.
— The NTSB also recommended that Boeing redesign a 737 NG part in the wake of last year’s fatal Southwest Airlines accident.
— From the coalition that brings you Infrastructure Week every year comes a presidential candidate forum in February.
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NTSB CRITICIZES FEDERAL AV REGULATION: Investigators slammed NHTSA for its failure to better regulate self-driving car operations during a meeting on Tuesday to determine probable cause in a fatal crash involving an Uber test car. NTSB board member Jennifer Homendy blamed NHTSA for putting “technology advancement … before saving lives“ and called its guidance so “lax” as to be “laughable,” our Tanya Snyder reports.
NHTSA’s guidance lacks metrics for developers to use to determine if they’ve achieved safety goals, said NTSB investigator Ensar Beric. And it’s voluntary; only 16 developers have submitted a safety self-assessment. “There are 62 developers testing in California,” Beric said. NTSB recommended that NHTSA make those assessments mandatory and develop a system to evaluate them. It also recommended that “Arizona and other states require developers to apply for a permit to test,” Tanya writes.
NTSB found that the primary cause of the crash was the safety driver’s inattentiveness and cell phone use, but it also found that Uber’s “inadequate safety culture” and the Arizona DOT’s “insufficient oversight” of AV testing were factors.
One other note: NTSB officials praised Uber for its cooperation during the investigation, and contrasted it to another unnamed company (apparently referring to Tesla). Uber’s CEO “did not hang up on me,” said NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt, referring to a contentious call with Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
IMPECCABLE TIMING: The Senate Commerce Committee has a hearing today to talk about the safety of autonomous vehicles, with several federal transportation officials, including Sumwalt, set to testify. The hearing comes as Congress is renewing its efforts to write legislation addressing the testing, development and use of self-driving vehicles.
SPEAKING OF AUTOMATION: Four organizations — AAA, Consumer Reports, J.D. Power and the National Safety Council — are banding together to adopt standardized naming for advanced driver assistance technology. AAA found this year, for example, that consumers can be looking at as many as 20 different names for the same feature. The group wants safety organizations, automakers and journalists to adopt common terms. There are five categories, with several definitions in each one, to make clear the difference, for example, between adaptive cruise control, active driving assistance, and lane keeping assistance.
NTSB URGES REDESIGN OF BOEING 737 NG PART: A crack in an engine fan blade led to last year’s fatal Southwest Airlines accident in Pennsylvania, the NTSB decided Tuesday. The fan blade broke away, “damaging the engine housing and sending pieces crashing into a wing and the fuselage,” our Brianna Gurciullo reports. One passenger, Jennifer Riordan, died after a window burst open. The NTSB had seven recommendations, including that the FAA require Boeing to redesign the engine fan cowl on its 737 NG planes. Boeing said in a statement that it was changing its “inlet and fan cowl designs to enhance their ability to withstand” a fan blade breaking off.
Then vs. now: The FAA certified the kind of plane and engine involved in the accident in the 1990s. Over the years, “new technologies and analytical methods have been developed that will better predict the interaction of the engine and airframe” when a blade breaks off, the NTSB said in an abstract of its final report.
Praise for the pilots: Sumwalt commended Tammie Jo Shults and Darren Ellisor during the meeting. The pilots didn’t perform every checklist that applied to their emergency, “but in a situation like this, frankly, the most important thing to do is to get the airplane on the ground, keep the blue side up, get the landing gear down, put it on the concrete — and they did that,” he said.
MAILBAG: Nearly a dozen aviation groups, including the trade association representing airlines, are opposing legislation that the House Transportation Committee is marking up today. H.R. 5119 (116), introduced by Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), would require unannounced FAA inspections at foreign aircraft repair stations and mandate minimum qualifications for mechanics working on U.S. aircraft at foreign repair stations.
In the letter, the groups argue that the legislation is unnecessary, due to existing federal regulations and the scrutiny that repair stations already receive from regulators, customers and third parties.
COMING SOON: A coalition of unions and transportation groups announced today that it’s planning to hold a presidential candidate forum on infrastructure in February. United for Infrastructure, which holds the annual official Infrastructure Week, said the forum will take place over President’s Day weekend in Las Vegas, when early voting starts in Nevada. Candidates haven’t been formally invited yet, but the group sent out save the dates and will follow up with campaigns. “As they head to the polls in key states, the millions of workers our host committee represents, along with the voters of Nevada and across the country, deserve to know the candidates’ plans to rebuild America,” said Zachary Schafer, executive director of United for Infrastructure.
MOVING ALONG: The House passed a continuing resolution on Tuesday that includes language to repeal the $7.6 billion highway fund rescission scheduled to take place next year. Next stop: the Senate.
EXCLUSIVE: A new DHS report obtained by our Stephanie Beasley, which was published just months after the department issued a cybersecurity warning about Chinese-made drones, shows that DHS determined two models of DJI drones were safe for federal use when equipped with a suite of cybersecurity upgrades called Government Edition. The department concluded the 40-page report with skepticism, however: “No data leakage was found during the limited-scope analysis, but that does not mean it cannot happen with the right conditions and circumstances.”
The findings appear to mostly confirm those included in a July report from the Interior Department, which authorized the use of certain DJI drones. DHS declined to comment on the report, referring questions to Interior. DOI’s press office did not respond to a request for comment. Interior has remained relatively mum on its decision to ground its mostly Chinese fleet of more than 800 drones, including 121 manufactured by DJI, over cybersecurity concerns.
Worth flagging: In a discussion of supply chain issues, DHS noted the drone market was dominated by companies based in China “due in large part to the overhead for Chinese manufacturing costs as opposed to those based in the U.S.” It also said that many U.S. drone companies rely on Chinese components. As Stephanie reported earlier this week, some in the Trump administration are looking for ways to restore the U.S. drone market, though the White House has expressed concerns about banning Chinese-made drones.
Tom Devine, general counsel at the Airports Council International-North America, is retiring in June. He’ll be replaced by Pablo Nüesch, who has been representing airports as an attorney at Spiegel & McDiarmid LLP for the past 21 years. Political strategist Jeremy Bird, who was the national field director for President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign, is joining Lyft as vice president of public engagement. He’ll report directly to Chief Policy Officer Anthony Foxx, a former Transportation secretary during the Obama administration, according to the company.
— “For train drivers, death on the tracks can leave scars for a lifetime.” Philadelphia Inquirer.
— “Waymo’s Austin closure was sudden and affected about 100 contractors, workers say.” CNBC.
— “Azellia White, trailblazer for African American women in aviation, dies at 106.” Washington Post.
— “Juno files for bankruptcy after pulling out of NYC.” POLITICO New York Pro.
— “New Arizona development bans residents from bringing cars.” Wall Street Journal.
DOT appropriations run out in 2 days. The FAA reauthorization expires in 1,411 days. Highway and transit policy is up for renewal in 316 days.
