FAA to Hold Safety Summit March 15 in the Wake of Numerous Airplane Incidents;
Top Aviation Attorney Calls for “Deep Investigation” into Bombardier Challenger Following Recent Death of Former White House and 9/11 Commission Official
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is holding a safety summit 10:30 a.m. March 15 regarding the recent rash of airplane incidents. The FAA also reportedly is forming a team of experts to review airline safety, and top aviation attorney Robert A. Clifford is calling for a focus of this summit to be on the Bombardier Challenger jet.
This comes in the wake of numerous recent airline incidents including a former White House official and 9/11 Commission Official who was killed Friday during a flight upset caused by the Bombardier Challenger business jet on which she was traveling reportedly experienced a pitch trim system problem. Dana Hyde, 55, who served in both the Clinton and Obama administrations as well as serving as a 9/11 Commission Official, was transported to a hospital in Hartford, Conn., after the plane made an emergency landing at Bradley International Airport, according to the Connecticut State Police. She died from her injuries March 3.
“The NTSB and FAA along with their Canadian counterparts definitely need to quickly determine the cause of the Bombardier Challenger airplane problem that led to Ms. Hyde’s death and take more effective action to prevent recurrence. The flying public cannot wait for the Bombardier Challenger to become the next Boeing 737 MAX,” said Clifford, founder and senior partner of Clifford Law Offices in Chicago.
He was Lead Counsel in 9/11 Insurance Litigation that resulted in a $1.2 billion settlement and serves as current Lead Counsel in the litigation pending in federal district court in Chicago where a Boeing 737 MAX crashed in Ethiopia, killing all 157 on board four years ago, which was just four months following an October 2018 crash of a Boeing MAX killing all 189 on board in the Java Sea. “I believe that a deep investigation is needed regarding the performance of this Bombardier Challenger aircraft as well as the reported history of pitch trim problems that are similar to those experienced by the pilots in the Lion Air and Ethiopian air crash disasters.”
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is investigating Friday’s Bombardier Challenger accident, said investigators are now looking at a “reported trim issue that occurred prior to the inflight upset.” In a tweet, the NTSB further said, “They will continue to learn more after they analyze information from the flight data recorder, cockpit voice recorder and other sources of information like weather data.” A preliminary report from the NTSB is expected in 2-3 weeks.
In 2012 and 2022, the FAA issued Airworthiness Directives for the Bombardier Challenger business jets like the one involved in the Friday tragedy for various pitch trim system component failures including most recently failures of cheap switch springs and related wiring flaws.
Also making recent headlines was Southwest Flight 9017, a Boeing 737 MAX jet, that experienced auto trim problems and was forced to return to the Phoenix airport when pilots had to manually control the plane after takeoff Feb. 24. Pilots reported that the “trim system is not working” and declared an emergency.
The FAA’s March 15 safety summit is being live streamed: https://bit.ly/3muh30Z
For further information, contact Clifford Law Offices Communications Partner Pamela Sakowicz Menaker at 847-721-0909.