The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) introduced last week a measure designed to enhance the accountability of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The Accountability Enhancement Act establishes the Office of the Ombudsman and the Office of Professional Responsibility within the agency, renames and reorganizes the Aviation Safety Whistleblower Investigation Office, and bolsters misconduct investigations and discipline management to comprehensively enhance accountability.
“Over a year ago, the Commerce Committee launched an investigation into FAA safety oversight,” Wicker said. “We have received disclosures from over 50 whistleblowers, conducted numerous FAA staff interviews, and reviewed over 15,000 pages of relevant documents. The FAA Accountability Enhancement Act would address several of the findings uncovered to date. This legislation would improve policy and authority within the FAA to investigate and act upon aviation safety disclosures properly and strengthen protection for whistleblowers. It is important that we pass this bill to improve the way the FAA handles safety concerns raised by its own employees.”
Other bill features include conducting outreach and training to mitigate misconduct while promoting timely and appropriate processing of protected disclosures and allegations of reprisal; directing the FAA to establish an Office of Professional Responsibility to receive complaints of misconduct by managers within the agency – then assess complaints and determine whether sufficient information exists to initiate an investigation; and directing the FAA Administrator to establish an investigative policy governing misconduct investigations according to best practices to ensure independent and objective investigations.