today we welcome acting faa administrator billy nolen to help understand what run wrong with the faa system -- notam notam system. how we make sure the agency has unnecessary resources to modernize key infrastructure, how do we ensure safe and efficient and reliable network. how can we ensure our global competitive edge. mr. nolen understands these challenges. he ordered the first national ground stoppage since 9/11. or than 1300 fights were -- flights were canceled. prior to leaving the faa he served as the head as the head of the -- over one million active pilots, over 50,000 flights every day. the aviation safety office has a very big job. as an experienced pilot, he understands the importance of the notam system. they provide real-time safety information, flight operations and without access to this of omission, safe aircraft operations are not possible. this hearing, like last week, which i believe shows the investment in technology that needs to be made, southwest could have updated their system and didn't, and a critical event happened. now we want to make sure a critical even

prior to deleting faa, he served as the faa office of aviation safety with over 1 million registeredcraft, over 1 million act of violence, 50000 lives every day and aviation safety office has a very big job. as an experienced airline pilot, mr. nolan understands the importance of the systemce, notices provide real-time safety information, and without access to the information safe aircraft operations are not possible. this hearing like last week which i believe still shows the investment in technology needed to be made, southwest could have updated their system, it didn't in a critical event. we want to make sure critical event happens the system and how do we keep our economy moving forward? these incidents are concerning, they impact americans confidence and aviation system and infrastructure is critical to american safety and security. we need to accelerate building national airspace system for the 21st century, f something the committee is going to work on as it relates tod the faa reauthorization bill and the 23 authorization bill will give as wimany opportunity not just abot th

what has the faa done about the ban? >> the faa is continuing to work towards that so that our airports and the division outside my purview is working on that issue aggressively. >> they are working it aggressively. our other airports going to be able to ban and? >> sir, i would not know that. >> who would know? >> i can set you up with our airports division. >> it seems to me, sir, that if we are going to have a replacement fuel, and apparently we do, which is great, we have to make sure that it's widely available and that it is affordable. if that is not the case, we cannot allow airports to unilaterally ban it and have the faa continue to sanction that type of operation. i am sure that you are, or i hope, maybe you are not familiar, with of the grant assurance, grant assurance 22. are you familiar with that? >> somewhat familiar, sir. the grant assurance is run by the division of airports in the agency. >> so it says that if you're going to have a public airport, you've got to provide the fuel and other services. that

washington is exceptionally qualified to serve at the faa. he has the military discipline, organizational leadership and a forward-looking vision. i urge the committee to make sure that we hold the hearings and get phil washington's nomination confirmed asap. thank you. i yield back. >> i guess i will call on myself here. [laughter]>> i was going to call on you. >> thank you. captain murray, i am curious about the role the pilots association are going to play in the third-party assessment that is being commissioned by southwest. i am a big fan of our pilots, being a senator from alaska, and i feel like i know almost all of the pilots in alaska. a lot of them are veterans. how do you think you guys are going to fit into this assessment and what are going to be the highlights from your perspective? >> thank you, senator. i think that -- is uniquely qualified to provide input and we have been trying to do that for many years. i like to say that southwest has an airline to run. that is what we do. we have some of the best in the world. i have spo

washington is uniquely and exceptionally qualified to serve at the faa. he's got the military discipline, the organizational leadership and the forward-looking vision. some want to urge the committee to make sure that we hold the hearings and get his nomination confirmed asap. so you guys got off the hook for a little bit. thank you. i yield back. >> thank you. while i guess the chair left so i'm going to call myself here. [laughing] >> i was going to call on you. >> oh, thank you. so captain murray, i'm curious about the role that the pilots association are going to play into third-party assessment that's been commissioned by southwest. i'm a big fan of our pilots, flight a lot, being a senator from alaska. you know, almost, i feel like i know almost all the parts up in alaska. a lot of them are veterans. i'm sure a lot of our veterans in your organization. how do you think you guys are going to fit into this assessment and what are going to be the highlights from your perspective? >> well, thank you, senator. thank you for the question.ha i think that s

there's an faa ground stop now at three airports in the carolinas.estricted air space for, quote, national defense air space. with me, pentagon correspondent oren liebermann. tell us more about what this means. >> let's talk about what the faa has done and we'll talk about the significance of that in the broader picture. the faa has issued a ground stop at three airports right along the carolinas at wilmington, myrtle beach and charleston in support of a department of defense national security effort. that is going on now, flights there paused at the moment. in addition, there is a tfr, temporary flight restriction right off the coast of the carolinas covering quite an area. it runs from 12:45 p.m. local to 2:45 p.m. local. according to the faa, it is for the use of national defense air space. any aircraft in that area are told to leave in as expeditious a manner as possible for the duration of this until 2:45 p.m. local. it is right along the trajectory of the balloon from the latest sightings in north carolina and now towards the coast where it's h

it was a 2023 faa reauthorization bill. how can we make sure the faa stays true to its mission of being the most efficient aerospace system in the world, as opposed to virtue signaling? >> the position we have had for many years, is that it is a bad idea to have the faa both be a regulatory agency and a technology agency. it's not really good to do both. the recommendation is that we split the faa to a regulatory part and a technology part. the technology part should be monetized. the model for that is air canada. that is where we can make progress. the faa has been talking about reforming the air traffic system for decades. it is behind schedule, and most importantly, it is behind technology. we will get much more freedom to more efficient flight paths to pilots. we don't have that. we still have a radar based system. so, i think the recommendation of legislation [indiscernible] to turn the faa into a new group [indiscernible] that is what i would suggest. >> so i can follow up on that, do you know how much time was spent

united reported the incident to the faa. the airline says that the pilots there ultimately got more training, but the ntsb says it only recently learned about what happened, and their federal investigators now want more information. let's bring in mike mccarron this evening. our aviation expert who is a former spokesperson for sfo. nice to have you back on the program. this is about the biggest nightmare you can have on a flight, plunging into the ocean. is this pilot error? what happened here? >> right now we don't have enough information to really know what happened other than that we know the plane dropped suddenly and rather violently apparently. then was pulled out of that drop. so when i first read about the incident yesterday, my first thought was, well, what was the weather like? was it a microburst from a thunderstorm? and the second thing was there was something wrong with the autopilot that caused the plane to disengage from the autopilot and maybe drop to the altitude it did. again, we just don't know from the in

let's actually fund the faa adequately. let's modernize the infrastructure, including air traffic control, before a real disaster takes place. >> it's one of the most effective lobbies in washington. the airline lobby. i think it -- it moves the airlines to take every measure they can to get this infrastructure so that's not antiquated and it's not vulnerable because if there is a disaster, it will affect all of us. and i must tell you, i feel terrible for airline staff and airline workers, everybody from the pilots to their airport crews, to the flight attendants. they suffered so much during the pandemic. so many were furloughed. then, they couldn't bring them back fast enough. so they had to deal with unruly passengers. we saw time and time again how the mask issue became -- it turned into world wrestling federation on airplanes. and so, it is just more and more stress on these poor workers. >> such a great point. >> it's broader than just the faa. ever since i was a teenager, we knew that the roads and bridges in this c

near-miss in honolulu, just as the acting head of the faa appeared before a senate panel. a united jet told by air traffic control to stop on a taxiway, instead crossing the runway as a cessna plane was landing in mid-january. the fourth major close call in the last three months, including at jfk, when a delta plane nearly collided with an american airlines flight that was on the wrong runway. >> [ bleep ]. delta 1943, cancel takeoff plans. >> reporter: the faa now launching a safety review team to investigate the series of near collisions. >> i formed a safety review team to examine the u.s. aerospace system's structure, culture, processes, systems, and integration of safety efforts. >> reporter: billy nolen on capitol hill to testify about that system failure last month, when the faa says an employee unintentionally deleted a file, causing a nationwide ground stop. but most of the focus today on those close calls across the country. senator ted cruz pressing nolen on a february incident in austin, texas, where a fedex cargo plane attempting to land, came within 100 feet

so what we would propose is that you ask for a report from the faa first of all on what metrics they are using and if you can't measure it you don't know if you're making progress. so if you can get a report to say how are we making progress with validations and are we working with foreign authorities equally or more importantly we've got full-time employees international certification office. right now we get told we are fully manned but they are temporary and everything is about relationships. we all know that's the way we operate. with your counter parts in brazil for transport canada and we all know how each other's systems work and we can use the bilateral to its effect. that is how we will make progress. >> are we making any progress? >> very slowly. >> is there something that we can be doing right now. >> during a very authorization, you look for being able to get reports from the faa using the metrics and the timelines about how long it takes to get through the process and that could be helpful. >> i'm always worried when i see a bill of here end of the political framework th

safety, quite rightly, is the top priority of the faa. did we should not be compromising on safety with too many recent near misses. we have to consider how to keep our airspace safe and efficient, just this past weekend in austin texas, there was a near disaster that was averted thanks to the quick reaction of the pilots. but, it could have been a horrific day had those two planes collided on that runway in austin. it is my hope that we use the reauthorization opportunity to push the faa safety and technology into the 21st century , to protect competition, and to resist the temptation to get into the business of regulating prices, which will only make air traffic, air travel unaffordable. we all know why we are here today, which is in the middle of the holiday travel rush, tens of thousands of families, including many texans, missed christmases at home. missed weddings, medical procedures, and more. do, initially, to an unavoidable weather event, but prolonged for days because of the very serious failures at southwest airlines. i am a bi

the faa launches a safety review. after several terrifying close calls involving passenger planes near miss at jfk airport that could have been catastrophic and a sudden nose dive toward the ocean off hawaii. passengers now speaking out, but we're learning about the pilots and the new faa action. how many more the painted message at michigan state university after the deadly mass shooting on campus. the new details revealed about the suspected shooter, the victims and the survivors, including one student who was there 10 years ago at the sandy hook school, shooting her message this morning. a potential bombshell in the china spy balloon saga, a new report that the u. s had been tracking the balloon from the time it launched from china days earlier than the white house had acknowledged. plus the tax ceo who allegedly stole money to buy a private jet. his employees later going unpaid is rated by the fbi. fight for justice. why a man who served decades in prison for a crime he did not commit is finally tasting freedom an

faa, the faa doesn't have a permanent administrator right now.resident biden's nominee philip washington hasn't even received a confirmation hearing on capitol hill. with all of this going on, are you confident that he will be confirmed for that post? >> we are very eager to see phil washington confirmed. he's a terrific leader, not just in terms of this is direct aviation experience, running the denver airport, but having the kind of experience i think really fits the need of the faa at this moment which is understanding how to work in large complex public sector agencies and guide them forward. as you mentioned, the president first nominated him for this very important role in july of last year. he was renominated for the new year. we're hoping if for a senate hearing and a favorable senate vote very soon. the acting administrator and team at faa are working very hard and doing phenomenal work. there's no substitute in any part of the federal government for having a confirmed leader in place. and that's exactly what we need to get to with phil

. >> good afternoon, mike, faa issued a notice the to airmen closing air space in the northern part of lake michigan near michigan upper peninsula. don't know the reasons why. only reason national defense air space given the past 24 hours the shootdown of the mysterious object in canada and also seemingly false alarm in montana, looks like this is out of abundance of caution but there is an airborne refueling tanker from the u.s. military and appears that fighter jets are in route. when we have more we will get back to you. right now we just know anything but the airman issued and air spaces closed in north lake michigan. going after shootdown in canada, mike, u.s. officials describing mysterious object metallic balloon with payload, on abc senate majority leader chuck schumer used balloons. >> they probably have been all over the world. i do think senator tester is looking why it took so long for us, our military, intelligence to neglect about these balloons. that's something i support, congress should look at that. lucas: not long after that mysterious object shot over canada and fig

we're learning the faa is closing more airspace over montana.e phone. what can you tell us? >> reporter: we are just learning that the faa has restricted some airspace in montana for, quote, national defense airspace. and it is not immediately clear the reason for this, but the faa has made similar flight restrictions in recent days when operations took place to shoot down the spy balloon last week and the object on friday near alaska. now cnn has reached out to the faa, north com, and the department of defense for comment on this, but it is obviously very notable that this closure of the airspace over montana has happened roughly a few hours only after we saw that object shot down over northern canada. that object had originated over alaska and was flying toward northern canada when it was decided by president biden and justin trudeau, the canadian tomorrow, that they would shoot it -- prime minister, that they would shoot it down. unclear what the reason would be for the faa to be shutting down this airspace over montana. but of course montana

now, the faa says the two aircrafts were just a little more than 1,000 feet, but now both the faa and the ntsb are investigating. we don't know why this is just coming to light today. >> all right. gabe cohen, thank you so much. appreciate it. >>> with us now, republican senator dan sullivan of alaska. he's a marine corps veteran, member of the reserves who serves on the senate commerce and armed services committee and participated in today's hearing. thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> are you confident a catastrophic meltdown like what happened last month will not happen again? >> no, i'm not confident. that's why we held a hearing. actually, this is the second hearing we've held on aviation safety and issues just in the last two weeks on the commerce committee. you might remember the southwest meltdown over the holidays. then the notam meltdown. this is a big wake-up call for our country and certainly the faa, and it's this -- it's old technology. we need to update technology to make sure our systems are able to function well, function during storms like we saw over

the faa says on monday air traffic control told the pilot of a learjet preparing to take off to wait as a jetblue flight landed on an intersecting runway. >> cleared to land four right jetblue 206. >> reporter: instead, the faa says, even though the learjet pilot read back those instructions clearly, the pilot proceeded to take off anyway. the jetblue plane taking evasive action, going from 87 feet back up to 3,900 feet, before circling around and finally landing safely. >> jetblue 206, go around. >> reporter: tonight, the faa wants to know how close the planes got. >> when we have an error like this, very often it's a human error. and even though we had backup systems that operated here, the tower operator telling the others to go around, it's still too close. >> reporter: this as the faa faces tough questions about airline safety. abc news following at least five close calls in the u.s. involving commercial jets in just over two months. >> 33 clear for takeoff, skywest 5326. >> reporter: just last weeshgs at an airport in burrbank, california, authorities say an air traffic control

>> dyr is that the faa is not paying attention. th there were just at a senate hearing. it was bipartisan, our concerns about them not paying attention to these warning signs. i became familiar with this, as you remember, eight years ago when we came within 59 feet of an air canada flight planes at . paying attention. appropriate $3 million in an omnibus bill last year that was requested by the faa to update their technology, but i we cowe keep asking and askingr , but they don't seem to be taking our concerns seriously. then what can you do? don't they need to be authorized as an agency? after this incident where looking at, the one you referred to at sfo five years ago where an air canada flight all -- almost landed on top of a crowded runway, you did get some amendments presumably to address some of these issues. >> yeah, we were successful, very proud of what we were able to do working with pilots, traffic controllers, and sfo internationally. those are all good things, but if they are not implemented and enforced by the management of the faa, and they don't do it to

it's overseen by the faa and maintained by contractors.he experts there. >> no real movement there. in addition to that, you know, the outage and the ground stop, high profile and near misses on runways around the country, including when the fedex cargo plane nearly landed on top of the southwest passenger jet in austin, texas not long ago, a video simulation was shown at the hearing and nolan talked about low visibility in austin that day, but he said the system worked in that disaster was averted, just barely averted. >> sandra: not let it get to that point. >> he's acting administrator the biden pick to be head of the faa has not had a hearing yet. but, still a lot of unanswered questions about the system. they need to get some updates in place. >> sandra: good job landing that for us, connell. >> i see what you did. >> john: we landed two in a row, ok. here we go. showdown here in the nation's capital as the national parks service moves to clear out a homeless camp in mcpherson square. why some people are calling the evictions out of b

here's what the faa is saying.espite being told not to by air traffic control, right as a small cargo plane was landing. the two aircraft were a little more than a thousand feet apart, but now the ntsb is investigating. this comes as the acting head of faa was on capitol hill facing tough questions from lawmakers. a series of system meltdowns and near disasters. >> we cannot and must not become compliment. >> reporter: landing the faa's acting administrator in front of a senate committee after announcing a sweeping safety review for the agency. >> we have a backup redundant system. why not just go to that system? >> thank you, madame chair, for the question. >> reporter: one focus, the system that failed last month, triggering the first ground stop since 9/11. the cause, a contractor accidently deleting files during system maintenance. >> that no longer have access to the facilities. >> reporter: the faa is moving to a more modernized system by 2025, and is putting safeguards in to prevent a repeat. >> we're about

this is "fast" faa on the desk, karen finerman, dan nathan another potential black eye for boeing as the plane maker halts production of the dreamliner phil lebeau is on the line with details. >> we have confirmed this through the faa that boeing has halted deliveries of the 787 dreamliner the reason it is analyzing a component within the 7 87 fuselage. and the deliveries will not resume until the faa is convinced that the issue has been addressed but here is an important point boeing has not suspended production of 878 dream liners so what does this mean how significant is this pause in deliveries the fact the production continues, and the fact that the faa wants to make sure that the issue has been addressed tells me that what we could be looking at here, melissa, is more of a documentation, an inspection protocol issue as opposed to something more significant that might cause production to be halted so what we have is a halt in deliveries when they resume, how long it will take to make sure that the faa is comfortable with the process in terms of the analyzing the component and ev

the faa and osha declare and corroborate on an mou.n august of 2014 the faa put out that mou and said that osha could regulate some of the ocean asianal safety hazard affecting -- occupational hazards except flight deck crew and pilots were carved out and no way they could mandate that against pilots. it was illegal. >> tucker: and the result -- this deserve as longer conversation and i apologize for lack of time and fully get all of that but it's clear that the response to covid is the core reason that people can't seem to get to la on time. jeff chandler, i appreciate it and hope you'll come back. good to see you, thank you. >> thank you, tucker. >> tucker: so all politicians have people who imitate them, who do impressions of them. kamala harris and kamala harris herself is doing an impression and there's no actual kamala harris and it's a medical question and tough and pulling off the incompetence and cackling and incompetence and they found one. watch this. >> before we get to all that. i'm kamala harris. >> i'm vice president kam

the faa says never in a checked bag. abc news, los angeles. nascar driver kyle busch has been released from custody in mexico. bush was there with his wife on vacation , but he wants detained while leaving the country at the end of last month for carrying a firearm illegally, was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison along with a fine last friday. that sentence was suspended in bush was released yesterday after paying an undisclosed amount to mexican authorities coming up one paddle boarders strange encounter off the coast of california but first four days away from the big day. how phoenix is getting ready for an influx of super bowl fans. you're watching world days now. ah, these bills are crazy. she has no idea she's sitting on a goldmine. well she doesn't know that if she owns a life insurance policy of $100,000 or more she can sell all or part of it to coventry for cash. even a term policy. even a term policy? even a term policy! find out if you're sitting on a goldmine. call coventry direct today at the number on your screen, or visit coventr

the faa, of course can acted fairly quickly. news here is that this is moving, without being flippant, this moves pretty slowly. it's not a plane, it's not a fighter, that it's not a bomb, or it's not a missile. they have had plenty of time to consider their options and to prepare for this moment. it was always an option from the beginning that acknowledge that so not we are seeing them taking some concrete steps for that possible action and this is another explanation, let's say we. here >> let's go ahead and put up a statement from the faa here, dan, and this is what i was reading from just a couple of minutes ago here. what will you be looking for max about trying to decipher about what the military is doing next, if anything? >> well i think we'll be hearing probably something up from the pentagon in due course. other, way there will be -- there are people who live in north carolina that will see aircraft taking off of course and military see what will happen. of course if they do cheated down, it will be very obvious. it's

to mitigate climate change and increase equity, is that your job at the faa? >> i believe it's all of our jobs to address climate change and one we take seriously. >> the faa head saying climate change should be the mission of everyone. most passengers look for safety when they take off. >> john: including our next guest who was bracing for impact when his flight plunged toward the ocean after takeoff, coming within 800 feet of the sea. he recounts the horrifying moment he and his family experienced coming up. >> sandra: but first, how many split second near collisions so far this year, it is only mid february. >> not too far, and at least six of these high profile aviation incidents involving domestic commercial flights since the beginning of this year, three in january, and three already this month. all are under investigation, but half of the cases are especially frightening because they involved near misses, like the one in austin, texas, on february 3rd. this is a simulation showing what happened there, a fedex cargo plane and a southwest airlines jet dan

the faa was in violation of their own guidelines by allowin.e fly our planes based on our license. the license allows us to operate aircraft. we can't operate that without a valid medical. the faa is specific what is allowed to be administere today pilot. we can't participate in drug trials for instance. this eau vaccine is not approved by the faaa. for us to be subject to a mandate with no investigation. studies of the adverse effects of the vaccines to me is unconsciencable. we were treated as giant guinea pigs. my primary job is risk mitigation. i'm there to make sure the operation is ran safely, effectively, and primarily on time if at all possible. safety is paramount. >> tucker: of course. >> they basically let go of their responsibility of safety by forcing us to undergo this vaccination program. >> tucker: then their only response is to loose not the requirements for heart ailments in pilots. at this point knowing that, experiencing what you did personally are you worried about the safety of commercial air travel? >> well, of course i h

pete has more on the layers of coordination between the faa and military and how it played out. >> thes now ended its temporary flight restriction that it put in place it says at the request of the department of defense because apparently of this shoot down of this chinese spy balloon as it wafted over the coast of the carolinas. this huge piece of restricted air space twice the size of the state of massachusetts. five times the size of the restricted air space that's been in place post 9/11 over washington, d.c. what was very telling about this when this went into place about 1:30 p.m. on the east coast on saturday was that this was up to 60,000 feet. which the pentagon says was the altitude this balloon was floating at. that's very critical because the faa simply wanted to clear out the air space below and make it so there would not be a has satur hazard so airliners. they put in a ground stop as well because of that restricted air space at three airports, wilmington, charleston and myrtle beach in south carolina. those airports were paralyzed for about an hour as this shootdown took

we just heard the acting faa administrator say they can't get complacent. what is being done to make sure air travel stays safe? >> i was in the hearing a short time ago across the street on capitol hill. the bottom line, the faa acting chief issued this call to order, a safety call to ordinationwide, which is really about reminding all of the players so that is the airlines, pilots, air traffic controllers, unions, regulators, to refocus on safety. thank goodness, thank god we've gone 14 plus years without a serious fatal incident in this country. an airline fatal accident. that is remarkable and speaks to how safe the system is. but the high profile close calls of late are enough for the faa chief to say let's get back together again, drill down again on the basics here so we don't have a fatal accident. >> the faa asked about the major meltdown back in january. the one, the glitch that caused thousands of flights to be canceled. >> that was really the focus of the hearing before the faa's call to action. a month ago we had the faa computer system that we

there was a huge restricted piece of air space put in place by the faa.ce of restricted air space ever put in place by the faa. we're talking about 150 miles by 150 miles. to put this into context, that's about five times the size of the restricted air space over washington, d.c. twice the size of the state of massachusetts because these military fighters were essentially circling like sharks waiting for the right moment to strike here. we have found out from president biden, he said getting off of air force one in hagerstown, maryland, earlier today, that he ordered a shootdown of this chinese spy balloon on wednesday but the department of defense wanted to wait until the balloon was out over the atlantic ocean and not putting any risk to those on the ground below it. the other really critical thing here that really tipped us off from this temporary flight restriction when it was put into place around 1:30 this afternoon is that it went up to 60,000 feet which is the cruising altitude of the balloon according to the pentagon, and the idea was for the faa

. >>> called to action, the faa launching a rare safety review after a string of frighteningly close calls on the nation's runways. >> cancel takeoff plans! >> just ahead, what all passengers need to know. >>> all that, plus on the stand, alex murdaugh's sister-in-law testified at his double murder trial about his behavior after the deaths of his wife and son. >> i think everybody was afraid and alex didn't seem to be afraid. >> we're live at the courthouse, as prosecutors prepare to rest their case. their case. >>> and they love a parade. a massive crowd, up to a million people, set to take over downtown kansas city, for the chiefs big super bowl victory party. today, wednesday, february 15th, 2023. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today," with savannah guthrie and hoda kotb, from studio 1-a in rockefeller plaza. >>> good morning, everybody. welcome to "today." wednesday morning. 7:00 a.m. on the west coast. nice to have you with us. looks like chiefs kingdom is going to have a good day, good weather for today's parade, but it is a different story elsewhere. >>> that parade is

after a series of incredibly dangerous close calls how the faa is taking action.>>> jason sudeikis and olivia wilde. why their ex-nanny is suing them even claiming she went to therapy with them. >>> elizabeth smart 20 years later from kidnapping victim to advocate. >> every missing child deserves to be found. >> how her nine-month experience shaped her and the work she's doing now. ♪ sky full of stars ♪ >>> behind the scenes of all the magic as disney celebrates 100 years, a first look at how the treasured stories are coming alive in a brand-new way from "black panther" to "cruella." >> i look stunning. >> underwater and out of this world. ♪ you ain't seen nothing like this before ♪ >>> two pies in the twin cities. >> all: good morning, america. >> "gma's" journey for the best pizza in america is heating up. >> let's eat. yummy. >> becky and our pizza party is saying -- >> all: good morning, america. [ cheers and applause ] ♪ you ain't never seen nothing like this before like this before ♪ >>> good morning, america. becky and our pizza crew are in minneapolis at t

ed: faa certification is kind of the key it.les, electric aircraft in the skies, that needs to be done. are we talking months, years, decades before the does that? it is a slow moving organization. >> we got unprecedented momentum on both sides with huge progress that's been made over the past few months and we are just knocking down milestone after milestone. so the momentum is really there and we are very grateful for the faa and the resources that they are putting into this exciting new industry. ed: i was reading some of the analysts reaction to what you had to say 24 hours ago. kind of a proof point for an entire industry leading the way but the big concern they have is the faa has to come up with rules for a whole new category of aircraft. how much evidence do you see that the faa has the competence and energy to do that? >> the exciting thing for us is that that process is now behind us as we have completed those first two stages. the stage that we are entering is completing our specific certification plan so we have the

but there is the opportunity for the faa to do important things.to get companies fully staffed. and then the faa has a quality upgrade program. we have to get that finished. airplanes are well-equipped. we have satellite communications, everyone is trying to use it. we need to get the faa further forward with its technology upgrades. stephen: what is all this costing you, for your own contingency plans, what does that mean for your margins and costs? robin: it's definitely added cost. last year, we had to hire a significant amount of crew members to make sure we can fly people to where they wanted to go. it does come at a cost. there are so many more constraints on the system then there were 2019. we all have more people than we did before. we want to make sure that in the u.s. that the system -- is more ready. the biggest costs as fuel. we have seen a significant increase in cost and it's the largest cost that any airline has. as capacity comes back, hopefully fuel comes down and you will see fares lower. that's the best thing about jetblue, we ar

the faa will also hold a safety summit in march. norah? >> nikole killion, thank you very much. >>> there is breaking news coming in just now. a black hawk helicopter on a training mission has crashed near huntsville, alabama. there are reportedly no survivors. puig officials tell cbs news it belonged to the tennessee national guard. home surveillance video shows it plunging from the sky, and video from the crash site shows thick black smoke billowing from the burning chopper. it landed in a highway median. it is not clear right now how many people were on board. >>> all right. tonight cbs news is learning new details about what may have caused that toxic train crash c asre isro resi in ohio tha the pollution in air and cod make their families sick. cbs' roxana saberi has more. >> reporter: tonight, outrage is growing among residents in east palestine following the train derailment that spewed toxic chemicals and forced them from their homes for days. >> i've been coughing since we came back. >> reporter: some residents are complaining of

. >> landing the faa acting administration billy nolin in front of a senate committee, just hours after for the agency. >> we have a backup burdensome system, why can't we just go to that system? i think -- >> the system that failed last month triggering the first national ground stop since 9/11, the cause, a contractor accidentally deleting files during system maintenance. >> they no longer have access to any of the facilities or the system. >> the faa says it is moving to a more modernized system by 2025 and for now it is putting safeguards to prevent a repeat. >> we are about halfway through it in terms of our modernization of the system. >> is there redundancy being built into it? or can a single screw up ground air traffic nationwide? >> we do have redundancy there. could i sit here today and tell you there will never be another issue, no sir i cannot. what i can say is we are making every effort to modernize and look at our procedures. for now, aviation safety is under the microscope after two near collisions at jfk and pineda triple seven diving towards the ocean after takeoff fr

plan to restrict access to the notam system going forward to non-faa employees?'am, we do not. we have a notification system overseen by the faa and man tianaed by contractors. they're indeed the experts there. >> all this comes amid broader questions about the technology involved in air travel generally speaking of course. there was a meltdown of southwest airlines over the holidays and a number of high profile near misses on runways around the country and investigators now are also looking into why a united airlines plane lost altitude coming within 775 feet of the pacific ocean after it took off from hawaii back in december. cheryl. cheryl: it's interesting because if you were to do that preflight paperwork and print it out on paper, for an average flight, domestic flight it would be 200 pages. >> that's a lot. they're trying to -- good point about printing it out on paper and modernize this and talk about redoing the system all together it's been around for so long. cheryl: they at southwest can maybe work together when it comes to technology. connell mcshane

we know from the ground stop that was published by the faa, that is in place until 2:45 eastern standard time, so another 45 minutes. and this is also impacting, you know, flights that are going into other places. so this might mean that commercial flights on the ground are being told to stay on the ground so the trickle effect, the trickle-down effect goes beyond this area. it's a huge area, but it goes well beyond that and it's including places that have commercial planes flying into the three airports impacted. >> let's zero in on that. a huge area, 20,000 square miles, and that includes the coastline, and of course, what, generally about 14 miles of waterways along the coastline, which is, you know, u.s. territory before hitting international waters. a lot of the airplane activity is flying a along the coast. it's using that space to navigate. >> this is a really critical spot for the national airspace system, because as flights traverse north and south along the coast from florida up to large metro areas in the northeast, this is an area that's really critical for them. this is wher

the faa is in once again after several near collisions at u. s airports up next here on the four will be joined live by area lawmaker who is a member of the phase oversight committee, and we'll talk about what needs to change. ♪ ♪ before the xfinity 10g network we didn't have internet that let us play all at once. every device? in every room? why are you up here? with speeds like this, i can't even dream of what he'll be able to do. get xfinity internet for just $25 a month with no annual contract during our limited time launch celebration. you have no idea how good you've got it. huh? what a time to be alive. introducing the next- generation 10g network. only from xfinity. as we have been reporting, there have been a series of dangerous close calls and members of congress are demanding answers and improved accountability. joining us now live as a congressman, mark d. sonia and we have had you on a lot recently talking about the issues from safety lapses to that major computer system failure that led to a nationwide halt of all air travel earli

the faa will also hold a safety summit in march. norah?llion, thank you very much. there is some breaking news coming in just now. a black hawk helicopter on a training mission has crashed near huntsville, alabama. there are reportedly no survivors. pentagon officials tell cbs news it belonged to the tennessee national guard. home surveillance video shows it plunging from the sky, and video from the crash site shows thick black smoke billowing from the burning chopper. all right, tonight, cbs news is learning new details about what may have caused that toxic train crash earlier this month, and it comes as there is growing concern from residents in ohio that the pollution in the air and water could make their families sick. cbs's roxana saberi has more. >> reporter: tonight, outrage is growing among residents in east palestine following the train derailment that spewed toxic chemicals and forced them from their homes for days. >> i have been coughing since we came back. >> reporter: some residents are complaining of rashes, sore throats, an

. >> reporter: on the congressional hot seat, acting faa administrator billy nolan this week tried to the nation's aviation system is safe despite a series of incidents and close calls over the last two months, prompting him to launch a safety review and call for an industrywide safety summit. >> can i say to the american public that we are safe? the answer is that we are. >> reporter: u.s. air travel continues to experience an unprecedented period of safety. currently managing about 45,000 flighs a day. while it's been 14 years since a fatal airline crash and approximately 22 million flights, that stretch has come uncomfortably close to ending several times recently. >> safety is our north star. it's the reason we have such an amazing safety record. but let's not take it for granted. >> reporter: the national transportation safety board is now investigating at least four close calls. december 18th a united 777 experienced a nose dive, coming within seconds of plunging into the pacific ocean about a minute after taking off in bad weather from maui. the flight landed safely. >> i thoug

that is something the faa is looking into.his last one happened on january 23 understood honolulu. i want to walk you through how it played out. flight data shows a united 777 landed ahead of a small cargo plane landing on the next runway over. united flight then turns and that is when the faa tells us the plane crossed that next runway despite being told to wait by air traffic control just ahead of where that cargo plane was landing. now the faa says the two aircraft were a little more than 1100 feet apart. so not nearly as close to colliding as in those other two incidents at jfk and austin. neither plane here had to actually abort takeoff or landing which they did in those other cases. this is just adding to the list of alarming aviation incidents. it is something that lawmakers really pushed the acting head of the faa to answer for during that senate committee hearing yesterday. take a listen. >> overall, i have a good sense about where we are can i say to the american public that we're safe? the answer is we are. if is th

we know the faa is grounding planes in this area.he ground stop says it is for national security initiatives. lucas tomlinson joining us live from outside the white house with the latest on the details, hey, lucas. lucas: if you are going to shoot down the spy balloon, this is the perfect place to do once it goes to open ocean. the u.s. military operates the coast of south carolina, north carolina and virginia. no shortage of fire power, f22 that flies and other fast-movers, f18, hornet jets, shaw air force base out of south carolina, f16's there. if you need jets to shoot down the spy balloon this would be the perfect place and over surf side, south carolina where it might possibly be over the ocean right now, you mentioned the ground stop from the faa. if you are going to shoot it down, this would be a good place to do it. jacqui: lucas, what have you learned about how quickly this might actually transpire? lucas: you have fighter jets patrolling, doing combat air patrols right now that are going in position, officials tell me if y

the faa hasn't said.estions about safety. >> overall, i have a good sense about where we are and i say to the american public that we are safe, the answer is we are. can we be better? the answer is absolutely and that's the piece we're working on. >> and a big part of that, nolan says, is a new sweeping safety review that faa is going to be doing, including a summit next month with partners from across the aviation industry, jake, and they want to figure out how many more of these incidents like the 7 777 scare are happening. >> thanks so much. >>> sources telling cnn that federal prosecutors investigating donald trump's handling of classified documents are asking a court to force his attorney to provide additional testimony. prosecutors say in a filing that one of donald trump's attorneys helped him commit a crime. paula reed is live in washington. this is the most aggressive move yet by a very aggressive special counsel, jack smith. >> very aggressive, indeed, jake. this is just one of the many steps we

the faa saying before the fedex aircraft was due to land, the controller cleared southwest flight 708 to depart from the same runway. potentially complicating matters, a freezing fog so dense officials had issued a weather advisory >> there is no visibility, so you can't see the other airplanes. >> reporter: aviation expert john cox says conditions were flyable but warranted caution. as the two planes grew dangerously close you could hear someone tell southwest to stop >> southwest, abort. fedex is on the go >> reporter: on the go, meaning the fedex pilot cut the landing short, pulling the plane into a climb for safety >> how differently could this have played out without the caution of that fedex crew >> had the fedex crew not initiated a go around, these airplanes would have been potentially very close or even possibly collided >> reporter: at new york's jfk airport a similar close call just weeks ago >> delta 1946, cancel takeoff plans. >> reporter: an american airlines flight forced a delta jet to abort take-off after somehow crossing the same runway, american promising a full int