Tom Waring, the Wire
U.S. Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick, author of the Saracini Aviation Safety Act (H.R. 911) ,is continuing his push to mandate inexpensive, lightweight wire-mesh gates to be installed between the passenger cabin and the cockpit door that would block access to the flight deck whenever the cockpit door is opened during flight.
The Saracini Aviation Safety Act is co-sponsored by 75 members of the House of Representatives and nine members of the Senate. Requiring installation of secondary barriers is supported by various organizations representing pilots and stewardesses. Also in support are former New Jersey GOv. Tom Kean, chairman of the 9–11 Commission, and Tom Ridge, a former Pennsylvania governor and the first secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
“As the House acts to clear the way for a bipartisan, long-term FAA reauthorization, it is imperative that that legislation include language mandating the installation of secondary cockpit barriers on board commercial airliners. These low-cost, lightweight additions would provide a much-needed layered security option for the flight deck, protecting it from anyone attempting to hijack a plane. We’ve already seen what can happen when our planes are turned into weapons of war. We should not let that happen again, and mandating secondary cockpit barriers is the best method to prevent another tragedy. I urge leaders of both parties to include this critical requirement in any long-term reauthorization we consider this year,” Fitzpatrick said.
H.R. 911 is named in memory of Victor J. Saracini, a Lower Makefield resident who was killed when his aircraft was hijacked and flown into the South Tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
Joining Fitzpatrick in calling for mandatory secondary cockpit doors is Ellen Saracini, widow of Victor Saracini.
“For too long, our skies have remained unprotected from the threats posed by those who seek to do us harm. The drafting and consideration of a long-term FAA reauthorization bill must include language requiring secondary cockpit barriers — the most effective way to protect the flight deck. I never want another family to go through what mine did when terrorists breached the cockpit of my husband’s airplane on Sept. 11, 2001. It is my mission to ensure we are doing everything we can to protect the flight deck aboard our nation’s airliners because, without secondary barriers on all planes, we are just as vulnerable today as we were on that Tuesday in September,” she said.
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Meanwhile, Fitzpatrick released the following statement regarding the reinstatement of Diana Rubens as director of the Philadelphia Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office:
“The VA can’t get out of its own way. Even after Congress passed a law making it easier to root out and fire poor management within the agency, it continues to be a model of dysfunction and contradiction. Despite national and local scandals, the VA only further hurts the veterans they serve and the hardworking individuals they employ when they reinstate leaders like Ms. Rubens. It’s time for true accountability within the VA.”
