>> building a better bay area. moving forward. finding solutions. this is abc7 news. kristen: hello. i'm kristen sze. you are watching "getting answers." every day, we talk with experts about issues important to the bay area and get answers for you in real time. today, as the bay area works to remove the many, many trees downed by yesterday's storm, calls are getting louder for one particular type of tree to be removed, one that is posing great risk to cars, trains, houses, and people. also, what if you had an etsy for locally prepared food? that is what he knew platform planes to be -- plans to be, enabling chefs to earn an income using their talents.

we will meet the talent behind chefs.com. plus, a safety summit after a rash of near collisions at airports across the country. the latest incident was yesterday when a republic airways flight crossed the wrong runway at reagan national after a united flight had been cleared to take off from that same runway. a transportation secretary led the summit today and promised to address safety issues. joining us live now to talk more about what needs to be done is abc news' aviation expert, john man, nice to have you with us. i think there have been seven close calls this year. and we are only in much. this is not normal, is it -- in march. this is not normal, is it? >> is a lot that goes into this calculation, including the fact that this is ramping figure middle of the pandemic, and this

is also incorporating a lot of increases in the amount of air traffic. the thing we have to pay attention to, exactly what secretary buttigieg was saying today, it is being proactive, looking at this as messages from the underlying system, and deciding whether or not we have a problem. because there were backup systems in every incident that did work, nothing terrible happens, but we don't want to go there ever again. kristen: and there's the question of, have we just been getting lucky? i know you said there are backups and there should be redundancies. but bottom line, sec. buttigieg said it seems like a kind of rest. -- of rust. it's not one thing. what are the little things with the different areas where things are a little off and a little rusty? >> an example was given to us from austin, texas, when we had an approaching airplane that was about 3 miles out, and

southwest was able to cleared off on the same runway in for visibility. they got too close. -- in poor visibility. they got too close. this brings up the question of are our controllers pushing thing a -- pushing things a little too closely? is it a result of a creep and the standards -- in the standards, all of the above? in jkf, where there was an exercise the order to the departing aircraft to stop, to abort the takeoff -- how have we gotten to the point where one mistake in one flight deck can put in peril so many people? human mistake is behind all of this. and we don't care about blame. what we care about is getting to the bottom of how we can make this not happen again. kristen: do you think control

towers are operating with severe staffing shortages, or staff fatigue? >> you know, we have been watching this for a time. i've been around this for over 35, almost 40 years now. airline pilots to different companies, we have always been on the ragged edge of not having enough people in the faa towers and the air traffic control facilities. you can't just hire somebody and get them up there overnight. it takes years to train a controller. you have to have the budget. the faa has suffered in the past from not having the congress on duty in terms of giving them a good budget situation. i think that is something that has to be addressed very seriously and in a bipartisan way. kristen: budget aside, let's say they had all the money in the world, is the f.a.a. itself an issue in the sense that -- doesn't have good oversight? doesn't have good programs set up? the protocol airlines

air traffic controllers follow? >> the faa's best utilization is as a mentor, not a policeman on the beat. to a certain extent, they have had the ability to do this very well over the last 10-15 years. but there can always be improvement. the faa has to try to set the standard, but the standards they set in terms of the federal air regulations are always a bottom level. you don't want anybody falling through that floor. but those are not the standards. we have to take a look at that, too, how well can the improve their mentorship of the industry? that's exactly was going on with the summit. kristen: what about pilot training? i realize there's a lot of automation going on, and there's also shortages going on, maybe not with the legacy airlines but certainly the regional carriers, which were involved in some of these. how big of a factor do you think pilot training is? >> it is a big factor worldwide.

it played into the 737 max problem. the assumption has always been made and was made by boeing that the standards are going to be the same worldwide. the problem is -- to problems, the feedstock so to speak, not coming out of the military, in most of the world coming right off the street, are folks who are very brilliant in terms of their ability to learn the lessons of how to program the computers but they don't have much time. and the certain assumptions we make, for instance a runaway procedure which is endemic and all of us in north america, it wasn't necessarily so. that is the result of pilot training because it was based on an assumption it was going to remain a high level of quality and precision and there would be a feedstock of people who already had a lot of pilot experience. kristen: the chairwoman of the national sovereign --

the national transportation safety board said they have made seven recommendations that have not been enacted. what are they? maybe you can talk about whether you think some of these could have been useful, and also why they haven't been adopted. >> first of all, there an endemic aspect of this. we want the ntsb to be completely independent. have demonstrated a good ability to do that since 1974. secondly, when we get into recommendations, they don't have the authority to force it, only the faa does. they sometimes turned a blind eye or basically decides that it's not economically feasible and they don't do it. i have always been an advocate of something not a single chairman of the ntsb wants but i think they should have it which is a standby snap on authority to be able to say that the -- sates of the faa, we've given you six months, you haven't done it, we are going to enact it as law, or at least as regulation. the ntsb doesn't want that,

but they need it. or the faa needs to be more proactive in listening to the different elements. in recommendations on the table -- individual recommendations on the table, some of them have to do with spacing. which gets into the heart of the same problem that existed in austin, how much distance do you have to have between an arriving airplane and one that is taking off on the same runway? kristen: any other ideas or actionable items steps coming out of today's summit? >> i'm sure there will be. i was very pleased to see in not only the preambles of the faa mp buttigieg's office -- and pete buttigieg's office, it was the human factor. fortunately these were not accidents. we have a long list of contributing factors, some rooted in some form of human failure.

so great is that back in the 1980's, we learned people were still going to fail no matter how much we didn't want them to and no matter how much we trained them but if we made systems to absorb those failures, we could get to zero, and that is what it is all about, getting to zero. we are very close, if not there. kristen: bottom line, do you think it is safe to fly right now in the u.s.? >> i absolutely think it is safe to fly. i demonstrate that all the time by flying around. i've never seen at this safe. it is almost frightening, how successful we have been in driving those statistics down to zero. kristen: with a little perspective, john nance, thank you so much. really appreciate it. coming up -- eucalyptus trees are an invasive yet prevalent species in the bay area, and they pose big risks, especially as we get more severe storms. ahead, one city's plan to make changes to its

kristen: hundreds of trees toppled during the latest bay area storm, and one particular type of tree keeps showing up. several eucalyptus trees came down yesterday in union city. these crushed a roof and a carport. thankfully, and our people -- thankfully, no people. eucalyptus trees create a for the many trees that drive on the right. many more have fallen in the past couple of months. joining us live now is the burlingame mayor to talk more about the invasive eucalyptus and the effort underway to remove them as part of a safety project. thanks for your time. >> is my pleasure to be here --

it's my pleasure to be here. kristen: why are eucalyptus trees so prone to toppling? i know you are not a tree expert but i know it's part of your job you have had to dig into this, what is been the reason? >> they have been there a long time, so it's not as though they just toppled over -- topple over all the time. but these conditions have been hard on a lot of big trees. heavy snow and the high winds for a sustained period of time especially after the trees have been stressed have put all the urban forest under more strain than normal. kristen: no doubt. but i do also understand that eucalyptus trees in particular have pretty shallow roots, especially for their height, which can reach up to 100 feet, right? we certainly see that. in addition, i think they also produce somewhat of a fire risk, don't they, with their excessive bark and their oils? >> there's a lot of oil in the eucalyptus for sure, answered only the species that exists --

and certainly the species that exists in the camino real is known for dropping a lot of brush and potential fire hazards. so for sure, they are problematic trees, especially when they got to the extremely large -- to be extremely large, as they have. kristen: the blue gum are not native to this area, are they? i wonder how they ended up mining el camino like that, and so many of them in burlingame. >> it is a lovely story. it is a design by john mclaren, the same man that designed golden gate park and many other famous landscape landmarks. he wanted a roll of film trees -- row of elm trees, and he planted the eucalyptus to be the wind helms to protect them. unfortunately, a disease got to the elm before we could get to the eucalyptus, and they remained. we have an unusual stretch where

el camino is both narrow and tree-lined. that is very important to our city and our residents. kristen: i don't want to say hate, but people who worry about them -- but there are people who worry about them and people who love them because they are iconic to the city. i know not only el camino real, but caltrain train tracks, are on the schools and golf courses, they are simply everywhere. julie also grow very easily -- do they also grow very easily? >> that is one reason they were planted in the first place, they are very fast-growing and they can protect those young elms that we talked about. and i think the conversation that we've had with our citizens, we are now five years about this project to restore and renew el camino real. it isn't eucalyptus specifically. it is having a tree-lined street that is important to us. kristen: let's talk about the project. what is the scope of it? how much will you be doing? >> it is a major project. it will be from one end of

burlingame to the other. including parts of san mateo. it will be a complete renewal of the roadway, including drainage and sidewalks. frankly our sidewalks are impossible to people with strollers or wheelchairs, it's not acceptable and we need to do something about it. we have worked very closely with caltrans to make sure that as we redesign and refresh el camino, that we will be able to have a tree-lined street. it just won't be these trees. it will be a new set of trees. kristen: has it been determined yet what types of trees will replace them? >> we are still discussing that. this is a historic grove, on the national historic places of registered -- national register of historic places since 2012. we are looking potentially at a species of eucalyptus that is much more narrow and does not get quite as tall and does not have the same risks as the blue gum does. kristen: where are you in the planning process? when do you anticipate this

starting, what is the timeline here? >> have to say that we have been at this for five years with caltrans and with our residents. that's why people are ready to go. construction will start next year. it's not normally the case that a major infrastructure project -- we would be able to see next year we are going to get going. but that is the timetable. we will start construction next year and hope to be done two years after that. kristen: what about funding? has it all been identified and dedicated? >> and has been, because we've been doing the home court, we did the hard work over the last five years and identified the project will be north of $100 million. the city will contribute to bringing the electric utilities underground that will both enhance the beauty but also make the future trees grow healthier and happier without overhead power lines. and also reduce the fire risk of course. so it is a significant project and we are very close to being ready to go. kristen: i also wonder, as you

consider climate change and its effect, whether it's more severe storms or perhaps years when you really don't get much rain at all, if that factors into your decision on the selection of the trees? >> 100% it does. one of the things that is great about this project is we will be able to design the sidewalks and planting beds with trees in mind as opposed to how it was done 120 years ago, without getting into the weeds, no pun intended, it will be very good planting beds and structures to protect the trees and roots for the very long-term while not pushing up the sidewalks and not impinging on drainage on el camino, which this last storm looked like one of our local rivers. kristen: yes, absolutely. those are important improvements as well. mayor, thank you so very much. pun intended i think? but it was a good one. i'm glad it made it on tv. >> thank you for your interest. thank you so much. kristen: good luck with the

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kristen: you know how etsy is a market place for artists to sell their creations? imagine a marketplace like that but for home chefs. shef.com it is going nationwide. joining us to talk more is joey grassia, the founder and ceo at shef. answering hassan ali -- and shereen hassan how did you get the idea to create shef.com? what's the idea behind it? >> we started a company for one

simple reason, to help people like our parents. we are the sons of immigrants and small business owners, who came to the u.s. to build a better life for their future family, and did exactly that, but it wasn't always the easiest path, and i think ever since then, we had this deep-seated desire to reach back and do something to help people like our parents. hope in starting shef is helping the next generation of parents and help them build a better life for their future families. kristen: so it is a platform for chefs to be able to sell the things that they cook up. joey, let's pull up the platform, the website, shef.com. walk us through how it works. >> yeah, it's exactly that, this is a marketplace that is connecting incredible, talented chefs with their local community and really our goal is to empower people like shreen -- like shereen to share their incredible food with the world. you get a super magical experience, you put in your zip code, you see all these wonderful cooks cooking in your

community. and these are dishes that you don't often find in a restaurant, these are dishes and recipes handed down through generations in many cases. and also they are healthier and higher on quality when they are being made by someone like shereen verses in a restaurant. kristen: what your specialty? >> [laughs] i do arabic cuisine from my hometown in egypt. i've learned a lot growing up here. my parents, my mom, it dates back two generations of chefs. i've always had egyptian food in my household and i wanted to share that with everyone here. amazingly, a great -- amazingly, great responses. kristen: that is fantastic. how did you begin selling on the platform? was it during the pandemic, and you thought, what am i going to do with my time? >> i was doing something completely opposite of culinary, i was already doing culinary before, but i was doing my

coffee online and i wanted to do something a little -- i'm used to being a multitasker, so when i was doing a coffee convention one time, i was invited to that, i tasted a food from someone that i really liked, and i was looking forward to it online -- looking for it online. i saw shef.com and i thought, this is cute, this is nice. i clicked it by accident. i didn't realize i was looking it. i was like, oh, wow, you want me to be a chef? i was like, i could do this. it was rapid. it was great. i met joey and alvin,. everyone was there -- i met joey and alvin, everyone was there. this is a really great concept. it very much has changed the way people eat. and it opens the doors completely. it came at the right time, covid. like shef to the rescue.

i think this is really perfect. because it feels like such a family-oriented environment, we are putting it out that way so when people are eating their food with us, they can feel that home feeling. kristen: look at that chicken plate, that looks amazing. what do you do to maintain a super clean kitchen and ensure food safety? >> just clean as you go, quality. always follow the safety standards. i've been in the hotel business for over 20 years, so this is like -- this is a walk in the park for me. i think it is great that they make it so easy for people who are newcomers, that they are still learning but they learn step-by-step and they get their certification. what is good is that we see the forecast of what is coming. not like you are getting order for order and you have to cook right away. you know exactly what you are makingm per count -- making per account, per person, so you are

making a quality. and the ingredients are the finest of ingredients. every chef uses the best of the best because they are showcasing their art, right? and we are sharing our art with everyone. kristen: you are going for that five-star review. [laughter] >> it is, it is. kristen: a totally don't mean to cut you off but we only have a minute. i want joey to tell me how does a full get from your kitchen to my home? >> that's a really good question. we operate in different ways, depending on the state we are operating. we are operating now across the country. we try to make it as easy as we can for our chefs. we operate in different models depending on where we are and how the chef wants to operate. but we help chefs with their fulfillment. as she mentioned, a lot of the work that happens behind the scenes is actually coaching chefs on how to create their menus on how to uphold the food safety standards and

certifications that are needed and then of course all the logistics needed to get the delivery to your door. as a consumer, when you order on the site, it is delivered directly to your door. so we help with those operations. kristen: joey, thank you so much, shereen, thank you very much for sharing your experience on shef.com. really appreciate it. all right. a reminder, folks, you can get our live newscast, breaking news, weather and more with our abc7 bay area streaming app. it is available on apple tv, google tv, fire tv, and roku. just search "abc 7 bay area" and download it now. we'll be right back.

kristen: thank you so much for joining us for "getting answers."

we will be here every weekday at 3:00 p.m. answering your questions from around the bay area. "world news tonight" with david muir is next. see you at 4:00. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] tonight, several developing stories as we come on the air. the u.s. inand russia in a raceo find that downed american drone. and here in the u.s., another close call on the runway. the air traffic controllers urging a united flight to cancel takeoff clearance. first tonight, russia and the u.s. scrambling to find that multimillion dollar american reaper green intercepted by two russian fighter jets. the u.s. says one of those russian jets colliding with the drone. tonight, defense secretary lloyd austin and his message to his russian counterpart. martha raddatz standing by. here in the u.s., that new close call. at least seven incidents now so far this year. a united flight forced to abort takeoff from reagan national airport. what happened on that runway? and it comes just as the faa

holds a safety