Carol Carmody served 30 years in the federal government, both as a political appointee and a career civil servant. She has received two Presidential appointments and has been twice confirmed by the United States Senate. In 2000 she was appointed by President Clinton and confirmed by the Senate to a five year term on the National Transportation Safety Board. During her tenure she served two years as Vice-Chairman and twice as Acting Chairman. Before the Safety Board, she was the U.S. Representative to the International Civil Aviation Organization, a UN body to which she had been appointed by President Clinton in 1994. Previously she served 6 years as professional aviation staff on the Senate Commerce Committee, 11 years at the Federal Aviation Administration and 3 years at the Central Intelligence Agency.
Carmody worked at the National Academy of Public Administration as Director of Transportation Initiatives after retiring from government service. She has a Masters in Public Administration from American University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Oklahoma. Currently she consults in areas of international aviation, and aviation safety.
It is true that Americans are multi-tasking every day – in cars, in grocery stores, in gyms, even in cockpits. While this is a fact of modern life, I do not believe it should be commonplace for operators of vehicles, aircraft, trains, subways. An operator responsible for transporting the public must meet the highest level of safety. Without knowing the full details of the NTSB investigation, or pre-judging its outcome, I had a couple of thoughts as I read about the NW pilots and their “overflight” of their destination. First, no matter how sophisticated the equipment, no matter how redundant… Read more
First, I am glad to note that the Senate Commerce Committee has directed FAA to move forward on at least two areas which will improve safety: applying research on pilot fatigue to the flight time rulemaking, and providing pilots (not only controllers) information about potential runway incursions. My time at the NTSB convinced me of the importance of these issues. But what struck me and what I will address are the organization proposals to expedite ATC modernization. The bill proposes creation of an ATC modernization oversight and a chief Nexgen officer. Heavens! Does anyone think this will fix things? What about the ATO? The JPDO? The Nexgen… Read more
An obvious way to improve transportation safety in all modes would be to adopt the recommendations of the agency charged with it – the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The agency investigates accidents, determines the cause, and makes recommendations to prevent recurrence. The NTSB has no regulatory authority; its “teeth” are the power of moral suasion and public opinion. To highlight the critical safety issues, through the years the NTSB has developed the “Most Wanted” List of safety improvements in the various transportation areas, and has directed these recommendations to the appropriate regulators – i.e., FAA, Coast Guard, Pipeline, etc.… Read more
Biography provided by participant
