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Opening remarks, as prepared, of Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Ranking Member Sam Graves (R-MO) and Subcommittee on Aviation Ranking Member Garret Graves (R-LA) from today’s hearing entitled, “State of Aviation Safety”:

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Ranking Member Sam Graves (R-MO):

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for calling today’s hearing.

I want to join my colleagues in expressing my sincere condolences to the families and friends of the victims of both Lion Air flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines flight 302.  None of us can truly understand the pain and sorrow you are enduring.  We thank you for being here today to share your perspective with the Subcommittee as we continue to review the impacts of these two terrible tragedies.

There is no doubt in my mind that all of us share the common goal of seeking the safest aviation system and striving to improve it here in the United States and around the world.  Our efforts in this regard must be constant, consistent, and constructive. 

This means mitigating risks and developing contingencies in all areas.  To this end, I am pleased that we will also hear from the National Transportation Safety Board as well as labor organizations.  These unions represent the men and women operating, maintaining, and servicing U.S. airlines, as well as those regulating and inspecting U.S. airlines and manufacturers every day.  Their views will assist our understanding of the state of aviation safety in the U.S. and abroad.

I also look forward to testimony from the many other aviation stakeholders and from the Federal Aviation Administration directly on the state of aviation safety at a future hearing.

I again want to thank the family members for being here and express my condolences.

Subcommittee on Aviation Ranking Member Garret Graves (R-LA):

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for calling today’s hearing.

I want to express my condolences, on behalf of everyone here today, to the witnesses, families, and friends of those lost in the two Boeing 737 MAX accidents.  We appreciate your time and dedication in working to ensure no one else ever has to go through the unimaginable experience you are enduring.

We are all aware of how safe aviation is – in general.  For example, according to the World Health Organization, worldwide there are 1.35 million deaths and up to 50 million injuries annually due to road crashes.  In comparison, worldwide there was one fatality for every three million commercial passenger flights in 2018.

And we could sit here all day and talk about statistics, but that absolutely is not appropriate today, and that’s not why we are here.  Our witnesses today didn’t lose statistics.

I maintain my promise to those here today and others, we will leave no stone unturned in the process for safely ungrounding these aircraft and ensuring this doesn’t happen again.

We need to learn every lesson possible from these accidents and put in place any solutions necessary, not just for this aircraft, but for the aviation system as a whole.  Despite the progress we have made in safety, we can never stop striving for safer skies in the United States and around the world. 

Thank you again, Mr. Chairman, for holding today’s hearing.

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