(NewsNation) — In light of a spate of recent aviation near-misses, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told NewsNation, “Of course I am concerned. The FAA is concerned. The American people are concerned.”
Duffy told NewsNation he and his agency are “leaning into” the incidents and looking for solutions: “What is key, we are not ignoring it.”
The pilot of a SkyWest flight heading from Minneapolis to Minot, North Dakota, avoided a midair collision with a B-52 bomber by performing an “aggressive maneuver” on July 18 — one week before a Southwest Airlines flight plunged shortly after takeoff when it was alerted of a nearby plane.
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Duffy said it is important to approach each incident individually.
“Was it something about air traffic control? Was it military? Was it civilian aircraft? Were there technology failures?” Duffy said. “We have to do that investigation on each of them to figure out what the problem was, to then craft the right solution.”
Data from the Federal Aviation Agency shows there have been at least 134 commercial airplane incidents so far this year, with at least seven categorized as near-misses.
“We are actually looking at it and figuring out how we navigate our airspace and make it safer because, again, near misses one day can lead to a devastating crash the next,” Duffy told NewsNation.
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Solutions could come in the form of enhanced tech, Duffy said. By using artificial intelligence and Department of Transportation team members to assess airports across the nation, Duffy hopes to spot “critical issues” before they result in a crash.
“I do not want to have another DCA on my hands under this administration,” Duffy added, referencing the fatal midair collision in January at Reagan National Airport that left 67 people dead.
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On Wednesday, the National Transportation Safety Board will begin three days of hearings over that crash between an American Airlines regional jet and a military helicopter.
The investigative hearings, which come six months after the crash, aim to “determine the facts and circumstances” of the incident, according to the agency.
“I am looking forward to the hearing tomorrow, and I think hearings to bring out evidence and information and give the Congress knowledge is critically important,” Duffy told NewsNation.
NewsNation’s Anna Kutz contributed to this report.
