Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), the senior member from the Northeast on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, strongly criticized the recommendations made by the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) New York Airspace Task Force as “fundamentally inadequate.”

Nadler issued the following statement:

“The terrible and horrific crash on August 8th -- between a small fixed wing airplane and a tourist helicopter -- was a powerful reminder of what most New Yorker’s have known for some time, that New York's airspace is far too congested and must be regulated by the FAA. Unfortunately, the recommendations put forward today by the FAA’s New York Airspace Task Force, while a step in the right direction, are fundamentally inadequate.

For many years leading up to this tragedy, I have called for proper federal regulation of this air space. Today, I renew my demand that the FAA should take immediate steps to implement the recommendations of the Department of Transportation Inspector General (DOT IG), the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and the FAA Advisory Committee for these types of aircraft operations. At a minimum, the FAA must, on all aircraft that seat less than ten people, require the installation of the Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS-II – a device that alerts that another aircraft is getting too close), and a Mode C Transponder (a device that sends out a constant signal announcing a craft's location). Additionally, the FAA must track by radar all aircraft below 1100 feet in this corridor, and if that is not feasible then we must ban those flights. Finally, the FAA has unfortunately created a very large noise issue with their recommendation that helicopters fly below 1000 feet. We should not try to solve one issue and create a noise nuisance that will negatively millions of New Yorkers.

Let me also reiterate that as it seems that the FAA has chosen not to follow these expert, independent recommendations, I will insure that Congress takes appropriate action to safeguard the people of New York and this corridor.”