DOT report warned about lax safety oversight

[Heidi]

Source: USA Today

Posted 16m ago

WASHINGTON — Less than a month before the deadly midair collision involving a private plane and a sightseeing helicopter over New York's Hudson River, a federal watchdog warned about the lax safety oversight of the for-hire flight business.
A report issued by the Department of Transportation's inspector general criticized the Federal Aviation Administration for providing significantly weaker oversight of the "on-demand" flight industry -- companies hired to fly aircraft, both helicopters and planes, that seat less than 30 people -- than it does of the commercial airline industry.

National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Debbie Hersman, in an interview with The Associated Press before Saturday's accident, said the report makes it clear "that there is disparate level of oversight."

The accident across from Manhattan's West Side near the Hoboken, N.J., waterfront occurred around noon on an otherwise idyllic summer day when a small private plane with three people aboard collided with a for-hire sightseeing helicopter carrying the pilot and five Italian tourists.


Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/topstories/2009-08-09-118270921_x.htm

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Related Latest Breaking News thread:
Helicopter crashes in the Hudson - after collision with small plane

[tj2001]

1. "Get the government off our backs"

seems to be paying off