> That said, the FAA has a long history of not implementing safety recommendations
The counterpoint is that their safety record speaks for itself. When was the last commercial airliner crash in the US? 2009?
The counterpoint is that their safety record speaks for itself. When was the last commercial airliner crash in the US? 2009?
If we count smaller craft like commercial single engine float planes, then the Puget Sound plane crash in 2022.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asiana_Airlines_Flight_214
If you mean domestic airline, then it was probably the 2009 Colgan Ait crash that led to major procedure and training g changes in the US.
The biggest one was requiring both pilots to have ATP certificates, effectively moving the bar to co-pilot from 250 hours to 1500 hours of flying. Lots of other changes that taken on their own are small, but overall it was a pretty massive set of changes.
It's not clear whether the 1500 hour rule directly improved safety. Both the Colgan captain and the FO had more than 1500 hours at the time of the accident. What the rule did unambiguously is severely restrict the supply of new pilots to regional airlines. This significantly improved quality of life for regional pilots, who prior to Colgan were effectively making minimum wage or worse. (That may have indirectly improved safety, by making pilots more well-rested and fed...)
Another point of comparison is Europe, which has a not-dissimilar safety record, but still allows FOs to have 250 hours. That said, from what I understand, they have a very different training culture where students start in a multi-crew environment very early.