My opinion of course, but it is not that the FAA
completely failed to act, but that they did not act adequately.
Also, icing is not the only issue being addressed in the lawsuit.
These tidbits from another article:
"We know from experience that holding government accountable and putting the light of sunshine of public disclosure on these pending measures is perhaps the best — and in some cases the only — way to get the necessary changes that we need,"
The board also recommended that turboprop planes already in use when the testing requirements were in place should be retested and, if necessary, redesigned. But more than 12 years later, those recommendations haven't been implemented.
Dunham's lawsuit also seeks to force the FAA to take action on the NTSB's runway safety recommendations, such as installing "moving map" displays in all cockpits to alert pilots if another plane is attempting a takeoff from the wrong runway.
The FAA has undertaken several initiatives to boost runway safety, but a General Accounting Office report last fall rated the risk of runway collisions "still high."
DOT, FAA sued in bid to force air safety changes