Washington - Upon Federal Aviation Administration confirmation of a near collision between two airliners on the runways of Newark Liberty International Airport Thursday night, U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), who has been a leading proponent of FAA action to ease the congestion in the region's airspace (http://menendez.senate.gov/pdf/082107lettertofaa.pdf) and has sought answers for the spike in minimum-fuel landings at Newark (http://menendez.senate.gov/pdf/110707lettertoFAA.pdf), today released the following statement:
"It seems like just about every day, there are new signs of danger and dysfunction at Newark, with a high risk of runway accidents, with a spike in minimum fuel landings and with the worst congestion and delays in the nation. Fortunately, a major disaster has been averted to this point, but the FAA needs to act with a sense of urgency to ensure maximum safety and efficiency at Newark and FAA officials need to be held to account for the ongoing problems. I have been largely unsatisfied with the FAA's response to my communications on flight delays and my inquiries about flights forced to land with minimum fuel left in their tanks. The FAA has chosen to focus their congestion efforts on JFK rather than taking a regional approach, and they have been far too slow to produce a simple answer about their reporting procedures for minimum fuel landings. With this latest incident and with the government report on runway safety released earlier this week, they have more questions to answer and they must show an ability
to take quick action to ensure safety. I will push for FAA officials to answer to Congress and I will be holding their feet to the fire until we have assurances."
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