It really should not take an act of Congress to get aviation safety improvements mandated in aircraft. Aircraft owners and operators should be willing to make voluntary safety improvements of proven technology, and certainly many do. But to ensure uniform requirements of important safety improvements that are not being adopted voluntarily by a large majority of operators, the FAA, through the rulemaking process, should be able to do that.
Normal rulemaking gives the public–including, of course, the affected parties like helicopter operators, pilots, and, yes, even passengers–the opportunity to comment on the proposed rules and the final rule is, ideally, better for those comments. But sometimes it seems the FAA drags its feet and years pass and aircraft continue to crash and yet those improvements never get made. At times, Congress says “enough” and proposes legislation to require those improvements. There is no notice to the public as required with the usual rulemaking efforts and no opportunity to comment as there is with rulemaking. But it seems sometimes a federal law is the only way to get some safety improvements made mandatory.
With more than 40 years experience in the aviation industry, The Honorable John Goglia, was the first and only Airframe and Powerplant mechanic to receive a presidential appointment to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). He served from August 1995 to June 2004.
As a Board Member, Mr. Goglia distinguished himself in numerous areas of transportation safety. In particular, he was instrumental in raising awareness of airport safety issues, including the importance of airport crash fire and rescue operations and the dangers of wildlife at airports. He played a key role in focusing international attention on the increasing significance of aircraft maintenance in aviation accidents. He pressed, successfully, for greater integration of civilian and military safety information, becoming a featured speaker at national aviation symposiums attended by military leaders and major defense contractors. He is a leading proponent of airplane child safety seats.
Prior to becoming a Board Member, Mr. Goglia held numerous positions in the airline industry. He started as a mechanic for United Airlines and eventually joined Allegheny, which became USAir. Additionally, he was involved for more than 20 years as a union flight safety representative on accident investigation teams. There, he developed a safety program for his union, the International Association of Machinists, and was its representative for NTSB investigations. For twelve years, he operated his own aircraft service company.
Numerous prestigious groups have recognized Mr. Goglia’s contributions to aviation safety. Aviation Week & Space Technology awarded him a coveted 2004 Laurel for his outstanding service as an NTSB Board member. The Society of Automotive Engineers presented him with the Aerospace Chair Award for outstanding leadership in 2003 and the Marvin Whitlock Award for outstanding management accomplishment in 2002.
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