Thehearingwas streamed live on the House Transportation Committee’s website.
He called the interagency standoff “embarrassing, ridiculous and inexcusable.”
He said it all could’ve been avoided had the agencies communicated better with each other from the start.
Who’s to blame?
Still, AT&T and Verizon agreed to voluntary measures to mitigate possible concerns.
FAA Administrator Steve Dickson, who testified first, acknowledged the issue should’ve been handled differently.
“I think everyone realizes the process didn’t serve anyone well,” he said.
But he acknowledged his agency is working cooperatively with the wireless industry to resolve concerns.
“We discovered that when we started to work directly with the telecommunications companies.
They never had to provide this to the government.”
“And it’s certainly no way to operate the world’s safest air transportation system.”
But where or how that breakdown occurred is still unclear.
“This was auction number 107,” she said.
“And I’ve never seen anything like this before.
So I would say this is an anomaly.”
