Jennifer Homendy, Chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
On Thursday, March 2nd, I had the privilege to interview Jennifer Homendy, Chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). She has more than 20 years of experience in the transportation safety industry including time she served as the Democratic Staff Director of the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials from 2004-2018. Chair Homendy also served on the National Transportation Safety Board as a Board Member from 2018-2021 before becoming Chair in August 2021. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Joshua Kupietzky: What is your background in the transportation industry?
Jennifer Homendy: I have been at the NTSB [National Transportation Safety Board] since 2018, and I became chair in 2021. Prior to that, I worked on Capitol Hill as the Staff Director of the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials for 14 years. I started there in 2004 where I drafted, negotiated, and worked on the passage of different legislation that implemented NTSB recommendations. I also helped to develop regulations for rail safety, hazardous materials safety, including on airplanes, and pipeline safety. Prior to that, I worked for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the AFL-CIO, and prior to the AFL-CIO, I was with the American Iron and Steel Institute where I was focused mainly on infrastructure such as the building of steel bridges and steel buildings. In addition, I worked for Senator Arlen Specter for a little while before I finished college.
JK: The NTSB covers transportation that includes cars, railroads, aviation among others. What is the biggest difference between those large three sectors that you cover?
JH: We cover everything on a highway including trucks, buses, and cars. We cover bicycles and pedestrian safety, and we are in charge of marine safety and transit, rail, pipelines and aviation. They're all very different modes of transportation, very different industries regarding how they address safety. There are some similarities; however, the pipeline companies are trying to adopt some of the safety measures that the aviation industry has put in place. For example, they are putting in safety management systems that address their risk proactively. So, it's a little bit different in each mode, and we have different investigators in each one. At the NTSB, we also have offices that support each mode like our Research and Engineering office and a few others.
JK: There have been recent close calls in aviation that have become a common occurrence over the past year. Most recently a JetBlue E190 nearly collided with a Learjet at Boston Logan. How can we prevent these close calls?
JH:We are investigating five of the close calls right now, including the one at Logan that just occurred. The Federal Aviation Administration’s [FAA] data shows a little more than 1600 incidents a year. Most of those are in low risk or no risk categories. However, it's still up from 2017, which was about little more than 1,300 a year. It does seem that in the past few months we have experienced more. We're looking into that in our investigations, but also, the public is more aware of the dangers because social media is bringing to light a lot of these safety issues. It is good to have the details of these incidents in the public eye because we can really figure out what's needed to prevent them from reoccurring. The benefit of the NTSB investigating is that when we investigate, we identify issues that can prevent something more tragic from occurring.
JK: Has there been a common occurrence among these recent accidents in the aviation industry?
JH: Each incident is different. We did collect data when we had a Runway Incursion Forum in 2017, where we brought together the industry, labor, data analysts, and the Federal Aviation Administration. It was generally found that the two biggest factors were pilot deviation - basically not listening to the instructions such as not holding short at a runway - and the other being air traffic control communications. We found the biggest issues are about communication. Sometimes there is a distraction resulting in confusion. These were the biggest issues that were brought up then, but in each of these, there is something a little bit different.
JK: NOTAMs can be excessive and outdated, and they are often difficult for pilots to find the most important information they need. For example, a few years ago an Air Canada A320 almost landed on a taxiway. What is being done to change this, and what would you like to see?
JH: Congress told the Federal Aviation Administration to update NOTAMs [Notice to Air Missions] but the FAA has not done anything thus far. The NTSB has investigated some incidents, including one at San Francisco. That incident could have been quite tragic. It was a plane that did not land on the runway, but instead, it accidentally almost landed on a taxiway, which could have caused around 1,000 fatalities. We noted, in that investigation, that NOTAM had reported that one of the runways was out. We have made recommendations to the FAA that they really take a look and highlight the most critical things pilots need to know that are specific to their flight. For example, knowing there is a crane somewhere on property and will be there on a Tuesday and Thursday and you're flying on Wednesday makes no sense. Bird activity is pretty much everywhere. Some of those are things they really need to look at, highlighting the bigger, most critical issues in a NOTAM and how they present. From a human perspective, how NOTAMs present the information is just as critical to pilots. It's important to see the most critical things when they're reviewing them.
JK: Thankfully, the NTSB has not had to investigate an accident in the advanced air mobility sector. As we look at advanced air mobility and other new technologies, what advice do you have from a safety standpoint as we begin thinking about these new up-and-coming aircraft and technology?
JH: We are doing one investigation of a Joby [Aviation] crash in California. Fortunately, nobody was injured because the aircraft was in the testing phase. The reason we did that investigation is because we wanted to evaluate their operations. That investigation is still ongoing. They have cooperated really well with us. Our investigation helps to establish a relationship going forward. Air mobility is coming. I do not know when, but it's definitely coming, and we have to be ready. From our perspective, we have very experienced investigators; the Head of Emerging Technologies here at the NTSB is focused on that in the commercial space as well. It's not good when we're busy because that means incidents increase. Hopefully, we will not have any issues. The one thing we have been mentioning to those companies that are doing air mobility is when they're out of testing and moving into operations, we would like them to have cockpit voice recorders, image recorders, and data recorders. We have recommended that, and we'll see what they do.
JK: Cathay Pacific has been working with Airbus on a new single pilot system for long-haul flights. Do you think this project will come to fruition, and if so, what safety features will be implemented for a single pilot aircraft?
JH: If that happens, we are a long way off. We saw the announcement, and we are certainly keeping an eye on it from a safety perspective. We have also heard a lot from the Airline Pilots Association about their concerns. We don't have a specific recommendation about it, but personally, I would be concerned.
JK: What is the biggest safety challenge you see in aviation, and what steps can you take to prevent it from occurring?
JH: We have an incredibly safe aviation system right now. We are the gold standard, and I don’t think we can take it for granted. We still have many possibilities that can occur, especially looking at any of these runway incursions; they could have been something catastrophic. We need to make sure that we are vigilant and we stay vigilant. And even though we haven't had many deaths, that doesn't mean we can't improve safety and identify where that safety needs to occur. That's even more important as I really think the industry is going to go through a big turnover. People are retiring; people left during COVID, and airline’s are getting a lot of new hires in. We need to make sure folks are trained, but with new personnel, the historic knowledge of people who have had experience with terrible tragedies and what to do when that occurs, leaves with them. So, we have to make sure the new generation is aware of the risks and is appropriately trained. The NTSB has many recommendations about training and communication. Besides that, we do not regulate, we just issue recommendations. We are watching to see what the FAA is doing, and we hope to participate in their safety forum that's coming up.
JK: Should there be additional training for pilots who are bypassing regional airlines and going straight to the mainline aircraft because they are not going through the regular aviation pipeline?
JH: We have issued recommendations about different types of training, whether it's remedial training or special awareness training. Therefore, we have weighed in on that side. From an industry perspective, that is something the FAA is going to have to look at.
JK: I’ve seen you tend to tackle challenges head on. What is your strategy for handling challenges, and why do you think you have been so successful at it?
JH: It is because we operate as a team so well. The NTSB is very team focused. When we investigate any sort of accident, everyone knows their role. That's not just individual people, especially for me. Everybody has their individual groups around them, and I have a really great team, a team that's not afraid to tell me “NO” or to provide a different opinion on a direction. I mean, you have to give them that ability to be free and to raise different issues and say that we should address it this way or that way. Having that communication and giving everyone an equal voice at the table is essential.
JK: What are your goals for the NTSB, short- and long-term?
JH: One of my biggest challenges when I became Chair was we had the same number of employees that we had in 1997. Since then, we have new modes of transportation, including things and people going into space, over which we have jurisdiction. We have all those new entrants, plus government requirements, and a number of other challenges. We need more people, so we have put in place a big hiring surge at the NTSB. It has been a bit of a challenge getting good candidates in, but we hope that will happen over time. We are really beefing up the workforce because we are strapped pretty thin.
Consider the derailment that just occurred. We have 11 investigators in the rail department right now, and ten of them went to the derailment. Combined, they have 38 major investigations on their plate. We need to make sure that we are bringing in new people, and that again, has been a major focus. We are making sure they're trained, especially on emerging technologies, and finally, the issuance of our reports. I would like to see a more timely issuance of our reports, but that again goes back to needing better staffing.
JK: What do you anticipate happening to the airline industry in the next decade. What would you like to see happen?
JH: It is going to be an interesting time. I would like to continue with, at least in commercial aviation, zero fatalities for passengers. For the foreseeable future, I would like to improve safety for Part 135 and for Part 91, revenue generating operations, including: air tours, parachute jump flights, living history flights, all those flights in which there have been casualties. We might see a five minute report on the news but nothing more broad. So, we need to improve safety there. Then, I'd like to see more diversity in the workforce in aviation. I have been a big proponent in getting women in this industry. I have a daughter who is interested in going into aviation, probably because I talk about it all the time. This is not coming from the perspective of an “anti-man” thing. It's making sure there are many diverse people. There are many people from different walks of life giving the right solutions to very challenging safety issues. I would also love to see that 6,7,8 percent of women in aviation go up considerably in the workforce. I believe there's an opportunity for each of the airlines to work together as a unit to address that. We can never be complacent on safety, we have to be really proactive. The aviation industry is the pioneer of safety management systems. We spend a lot of time looking at what's wrong, and now it is time to look at what goes right so that it can be replicated in other operations.
JK: We started this interview talking about your background in the aviation industry. What advice do you have for young people trying to start a career in the aviation industry?
JH: For those interested in aviation, look for opportunities: go to air shows, go speak to people in the industry, and make connections. Making those connections is really important, and keeping them is critical.
