With help from Stephanie Beasley
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— NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt was confirmed by the Senate for a new term at the helm of the agency, one of more than 60 nominations the chamber approved before breaking for the long August recess.
— Work on autonomous vehicle legislation is coming up against familiar snags in the House and Senate.
— The family of a victim of the Boeing 737 MAX crash in Ethiopia is calling on the FAA’s top safety official to resign.
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NTSB CHAIR GETS SENATE APPROVAL: On their way out of town, senators confirmed Sumwalt to a new term, avoiding a possible disruption in leadership at the agency given his term would have expired next week. Fellow NTSB board member Jennifer Homendy also got a new term, and Michael Kratsios, who had strong support from drone groups, was confirmed as U.S. chief technology officer.
AN INFRASTRUCTURE DOWNER: Senate No. 2 John Thune (R-S.D.) threw cold water on the recent excitement about infrastructure, telling our Tanya Synder that funding the surface transportation bill will be a “heavy lift” and that a broader infrastructure package is “really unlikely.”
Tanya also asked him about efforts to revive a driverless car bill. He said the House and Senate have “significant differences” between their approaches, many of which were carried over from legislation that failed last year. That includes questions about “much power states and cities should have over regulating driverless vehicles,” Tanya writes.
BILL CORNER: Bills were flying in on Thursday as lawmakers were flying out. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced legislation that would mandate railroads share information about oil trains with the communities they pass through, and would allocate $40 million in grants for local preparedness. And Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), along with four Democratic colleagues, introduced an airline passengers’ bill of rights that would protect travelers from a laundry list of discomforts and dangers, ranging from fair compensation for overbooked flights to keeping seat sizes from shrinking.
PRESSURE BUILDS ON FAA OVER BOEING CRASHES: Relatives of a victim of the Boeing 737 MAX crash in Ethiopia, frustrated with the FAA’s response and its handling of the ongoing MAX grounding, protested outside the agency’s headquarters on Thursday. As our Brianna Gurciullo reports, the family of Samya Stumo is calling on Ali Bahrami, the agency’s top safety official, to resign following his testimony in the Senate this week, where they felt he failed to take accountability for the FAA’s role in the crash. “We want to be lying in our beds and crying and supporting each other, but we’re here because we don’t want a third crash and we see this incompetence and this callous disregard and this almost willful apathy of the FAA,” Stumo’s brother said.
Senators also weren’t impressed with the FAA officials at Wednesday’s hearing. “They weren’t very good, were they?” said Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), himself a pilot. And Senate Appropriations Transportation-HUD Subcommittee Chairwoman Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she remains concerned that pressure from Boeing to meet a production timetable might have caused the FAA to gloss over safety issues.
GOING DEEP ON BOEING’S SOFTWARE PROBLEM: An in-depth report by the Seattle Times sheds light on how the FAA and Boeing responded to a new software issue with the grounded 737 MAX, which was discovered in June. Reporter Dominic Gates details the agency’s “newly stringent” tests that found a flaw with a microprocessor in the jet’s flight control system. The results of those tests, which included a crashed simulator flight, “changed everything” for Boeing, forcing it to classify the fault as “catastrophic” instead of “major” and making the company find a fix.
That update is, Gates writes, a “radical redesign” intended to not only fix the specific bug, but also to make the MAX’s entire flight control system more reliable. The system will now “take input from both flight-control computers at once instead of using only one on a flight.”
THE FLORIDA-D.C. COMMUTE: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has had a rough few weeks of air travel. After bashing American Airlines for flight delays on Twitter last month, he let loose on the social media platform again on Thursday — this time throwing in a question for federal agencies, who were quick to oblige him.
“Can someone at @FAANews &/or @DHSgov or @TSA explain one & for all the policy on keyboards & iPads,” he wrote, asking whether they’re allowed during takeoff and landing and what threat they pose. TSA responded that it, of course, handles security screening operations at airports. The FAA was kind enough to offer an explanation, clarifying that its regulations do allow for the use of small handheld devices during takeoff and landing unless the flight crew says otherwise.
TRAVEL BLUES: The U.S. share of the international travel market will keep declining until 2022, according to new figures released by the U.S. Travel Association. According to the group, the drop will translate into an economic hit of $180 billion in international traveler spending and 266,000 jobs. The causes: a strong U.S. dollar, ongoing trade tensions and “stiff competition from rivals for … tourism dollars.”
U.S. Travel used the data to reup its call for reauthorizing Brand USA, the organization tasked with promoting the U.S. as a travel destination. U.S. Travel said the group brought in 6.6 million “incremental” international visitors in the last five years.
MAILBAG: Rep. Tom O’Halleran (D-Ariz.) urged the FCC in a letter earlier this week to move forward with a paused rulemaking examining possible uses for the 5.6 GHz band, currently reserved for vehicle to vehicle communications. As MT readers may remember, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai was looking into whether the band should be opened up for other uses earlier this year, but he put that rulemaking on hold after a request from DOT.
“I urge the Commission to promptly issue a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and to thoroughly consider designating a significant portion of the band for unlicensed use,” O’Halleran wrote.
CHAMBER WEIGHS IN ON AVS: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s technology wing has added itself to the mix on autonomous vehicle policy, producing a set of policy principles. Pros can read the full document, but the Chamber’s Technology Engagement Center calls for the following: taking a safety first approach, preserving the existing divide of regulatory roles between the federal government and states, promoting technology neutrality, and modernizing the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.
DHS assistant press secretary Andrea Porwoll is returning to Capitol Hill, where she’ll be communications director for Rep. Rick Allen (R-Ga.) starting next week.
— “Truck driver was on drugs, reaching for drink at time of fatal New Hampshire crash, report says.” Boston Globe.
— “That noise? It’s the 1%, helicoptering over your traffic jam.” New York Times.
— “It’s fight night in Vegas: Elon Musk’s Loop vs the Monorail.” TechCrunch.
— “FBI: Amazon drivers part of major theft ring.” Associated Press.
— “Here’s how a pair of microbursts hit Boston’s Logan Airport.” Washington Post.
— “Indictment delayed for father who left twins in hot car.” New York Times.
— ‘Truck, truck and away’: Pickups drive GM’s profit beat.” Reuters.
DOT appropriations run out in 59 days. The FAA reauthorization expires in 1,520 days. Highway and transit policy is up for renewal in 428 days.
