Fitzpatrick Safety Bill Honors Lower Makefield 9/11 Pilot

LOWER MAKEFIELD, PA — A bill to enhance airline safety by U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick and members of both parties honors the pilot from Lower Makefield killed when his plane was flown into the World Trade Center in the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.

Fitzpatrick, a Republican who represents much of Bucks County, announced Wednesday that he has introduced the Saracini Enhanced Aviation Safety Act of 2019. The bill would require the installation of secondary cockpit barriers on most commercial airplanes to prevent terrorist attacks similar to 9/11.

It is named in honor of Captain Victor J. Saracini, who died when his plane was hijacked on 9/11 and flown into the Trade Center's South Tower. Saracini's widow, Ellen, has since become a national advocate on behalf of aviation safety.

Specifically, the new legislation would mandate what Fitzpatrick calls inexpensive, lightweight wire-mesh gates to be installed between the passenger cabin and cockpit door of commercial plans. The gates would block access to the flight deck whenever the cockpit door is opened during a flight, he said.

The barriers would cost about $5,000-12,000 per aircraft, Fitzpatrick said.

"Ensuring the safety of our nation’s aircraft is paramount to protecting the American public," Fitzpatrick said in a written statement." The previous Congress made progress in ensuring that future commercial aircraft are equipped with secondary barriers, and we must build on that momentum to include existing commercial aircraft.

"I am proud to stand with my constituent, Ellen Saracini, along with Representatives Gottheimer, Carson, and King in working to make sure the horrors of September 11th do not reoccur."

The bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat, Rep. Andre Carson, a Democrat from Indiana, and Rep. Peter King, a Republican from New York.

Saracini said she supports the legislation.

"It is unacceptable that, more than 17 years after terrorists breached the cockpit of my husband’s airplane on Sept. 11, 2001, our skies are still susceptible to repeat this act of terrorism," she said in the release. "It is my mission to ensure we are doing everything we can to protect the flight deck aboard our nation’s airliners because, without secondary barriers, we are just as vulnerable today as we were on that fateful day."

Previously, Fitzpatrick introduced the Saracini Aviation Act, elements of which were included in the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act of 2018. That bill required all newly manufactured aircraft to install a secondary barrier. The new bill would require existing planes to be retrofitted with them.

Photo via office of Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick