CITIZEN'SPETITION
John J. Coleman, PhD 6981 TepperDrive Clifton, Virginia 20124-1600 Tel: 703-502-9307 Email: jcoleman30@.cox.net
March 18, 2014 Administrator Federal Aviation Administration 800 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20591 To: Federal Aviation Authority, Department ofTransportation ("FAA") From: John

### J. Coleman ("Petitioner") Subject: Petition for rulemaking procedure The undersignedpetitioner, JohnJ. Coleman, submits this petition under Title 14, United States Code 

### § 11.17, 

### § 11.39, 

### § 11.61, 

### § 11.63, 

### § 11.71, as well as the applicable provisions ofthe Administrative Procedure Act, Title 5, United States Code 

### § 500, to request the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Authority ("FAA") to undertake a rulemaking procedure to amend Title 14, Code ofFederal Regulations in accordance with the action requested herein. A. Action Requested The Administratorofthe FAAis hereby requested to commence a rulemaking procedure to require cockpit voice recorders and flight datarecorders installed aboard commercial airliners approved and certified to operate within U.S. territory to communicate their data on a real-time basis via telemetry or wireless (radio) communications to ground stations managed bythe airlines in accordance with regulations promulgated by the FAA. B. Statement ofGrounds Although the safety record ofcommercial airliners is excellent, since the terrorist attacks onthe World Trade Center inNew York City on September 11, 2001, authorities have beenconcerned about new and more destructive uses ofcommercial airliners to pursue similar threats against the U.S. and other western nations. On or about March 7, 2014, a Malaysian Airways Boeing 777 airliner (Flight 370) with 239 persons aboard left its monitored flight path and, as it now appears, was intentionally diverted to an unknown location by a rogue crewmember orhijacker. Formore than ten days, the international community, including the U.S., has expended enormous resources searching for this plane and its passengers. Presently, more than ten days later, the whereabouts ofthis plane remains unknown.

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Authorities have focused their investigation ofFlight 370 onlocating and decrypting the elusive
"black box" or data flight recorder, which they expect will reveal what occurred. The reported search area is approximately six times the size ofthe U.S. and consists mostly ofdeep ocean waters. According to some experts, the longer the search takes, the less likely it is that the plane and its flight data recorder will be found. In the event that Flight 370 was intentionally diverted to a remote landing site in order to beused at some future date to launch a terrorist attack against the U.S. or an ally, the extensive search now underway will have been a waste oftime and effort. In this day and age, when radio telemetry is able to provide clear images ofthe farthest reaches ofour solar system and even beyond, it is time to declare self-contained cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders obsolete. Ifthese devices were required by FAArule to transmit theirdatasigna ls to company officials on the ground, authorities would knowwhenever a flight- for whatever reason(s)

- is diverted from its official flight plan. If a situation inthe U.S. orinvolving a U.S.-flag airliner, were to occur as in the case with Malaysian Airways Flight 370, the status ofsuch a flight would be known within seconds. In case ofa terrorist action, this, too, would be known and give the authorities an opportunity to respond immediately. Even if, for whatever reason, data monitoring was not performed on a "live" and continuous basis, the ability to retrieve such data, afterthe fact when needed, would serve a similar purpose. This is not only a matter ofnational security but also a matter involving passenger safety. Moreover, ifthese systems are implemented by the rulemaking process, they likely will have the effect ofpreventing terrorists from hijacking commercial airliners because they would know beforehand that their actions will be known immediately by persons on the ground who are monitoring the flights. Thus, the rule being proposed herein not only will assist in responding to terrorist actions, but actually help to prevent such actions in the first place. Finally, the proposed rulemaking would not "create" a new system,per se, but simply upgrade the existing systems to take advantage oftechnological advances in communications and data transmission developed since cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders were required many years ago to be installed on commercial airliners certified for use in the U.S. Commercial airliners already communicate directly and continuously with their companies, as well as with air traffic controllers. What the proposed rule would do is to make some ofthese communications automatic, rather than crew-controlled. 

### C. Environmental Impact Therulemaking procedure proposed herein by the undersigned petitioner would have no impact onthe environment. Commercial airliners already employ broad arrays ofavionics and other electronic communication systems that use radio signa ls to communicate automatically with satellite and ground stations intended to provide guidance and safety information. This proposed rule would simply add an additional radio system for the purposes described above.
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### D. Economic Impact The economic impact onthe commercial airline industry for the equipment needed to comply with the rule beingproposed herein would be modest, given the relative costs ofexisting avionics and communications systems. The operation ofa central ground station would likely cost the U.S. Government a sizable but nonetheless reasonable sum under the circumstances. Part ofall ofthis cost might berecoverable through existing security surcharges onthe purchase of commercial flight tickets. 

### In any case, itis believed thatthe safety ofthe commercial airline industry will more than offset and adverse economic impact occasioned bythe proposed rulemaking. 

### E. Certification Theundersigned certifies, that, to the best knowledge and beliefofthe undersigned, this petition includes all information and views on which this petition relies, and that itincludes r rese tative data and information known to the petitioner that are unfavorable to the petition.

John J. Coleman, PhD 6981 Tepper Drive Clifton, VA 20124-1600 Tel: 703-502-9307

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