Congress takes up legislation on federal aviation oversight

By DAVID KOENIG
AP Airlines Writer

Congress is taking up key aviation legislation just after close calls between planes at airports in New York and Texas. A House committee held the first hearing Tuesday on legislation that will govern the Federal Aviation Administration. That’s the agency responsible for managing air traffic control. Lawmakers praised the small number of deaths on airline flights in the United States since a 2009 crash that killed 50 people. But they also took note of the close calls at JFK Airport in New York and in Austin, Texas. Committee chairman Sam Graves says the incidents show that even after the safest decade in aviation history, the system needs urgent attention.