From the Seattle Times today
https://archive.ph/7td29
WASHINGTON — The relationship between the National Transportation Safety Board, the government entity that investigates civilian airplane accidents, and the Federal Aviation Administration, the agency responsible for aviation safety, can frequently be contentious, especially after a major national tragedy.
Last week, a rift between those two main regulators of aviation safety spilled into public view.
Frustrations — and sometimes tempers — flared in uncommonly raw fashion during the board’s marathon of investigative hearings into the deadly midair crash between a military helicopter and a commercial jet near Ronald Reagan National Airport in January. Board members grilled witnesses, including air traffic controllers and FAA managers, over three days and 30 hours of public testimony.
NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy led other board members in accusing the FAA of knowingly stymieing efforts to improve safety at Reagan National Airport and stonewalling parts of the board’s investigation into the crash. And Homendy directly accused the agency of fostering a culture among the air traffic control operation that discouraged employees from raising legitimate safety concerns, including by wielding the threat of retaliation.