Subcommittee Chairman Costello Responds to NASA Withholding of Report

Chairman Jerry Costello of the Transportation Subcommittee on Aviation and a senior member of the House Science and Technology and the Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, today issued the following statement in response to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) refusal to release the data from a cancelled study of aviation safety:

"NASA's stated reason for not releasing this survey -- that it is protecting the financial interests of the commercial aviation industry -- is outrageous and demands further explanation and an immediate release of the data. The study and NASA are funded by the American people, and I have often said that the safety of the traveling public must be our number one priority. I will be working closely with Chairmen Oberstar (D-MN), Gordon (D-TN) and Miller (D-NC) to get answers to the many questions raised by how NASA has handled this matter."

NASA Sits on Air Safety Survey

Rita Beamish, Associated Press - October 22, 2007

An unprecedented national survey of pilots by the U.S. government has found that safety problems like near collisions and runway interference occur far more frequently than previously recognized. But the government is withholding the information, fearful it would upset air travelers and hurt airline profits.

NASA gathered the information under an $8.5 million federal safety project, through telephone interviews with roughly 24,000 commercial and general aviation pilots over nearly four years. Since shutting down the project more than one year ago, the space agency has refused to divulge its survey data publicly.