E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSFederal Aviation Administration Chief Randy Babbitt resigned after being arrested over the weekend for driving while intoxicated in Virginia.
WASHINGTON -- Randy Babbitt resigned as administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday after being charged over the weekend with driving while intoxicated.
"Today I submitted my resignation to Secretary Ray LaHood and it has been accepted," he said in a written statement. "Serving as FAA Administrator has been an absolute honor and the highlight of my professional career. But I am unwilling to let anything cast a shadow on the outstanding work done 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by my colleagues at the FAA."
Police in Fairfax, Va., a suburb of Washington, said Babbitt, 65, was driving on the wrong side of the road when he was stopped at 10:30 p.m. ET Saturday. Babbitt, who was alone in the vehicle, was found to be intoxicated, police said, and was held at a detention center, where he was charged and released on a personal recognizance bond.
Police said that Babbitt wasn't involved in an accident and that he cooperated with police.
Babbitt was appointed to lead the FAA in 2009. LaHood praised Babbitt on Tuesday for being an "outstanding leader."
Reuters
Federal Aviation Administration head Randy Babbitt is seen in this Fairfax County Sheriff's booking photograph released to Reuters on Dec. 5, 2011.
"I'm proud to say that we have the safest aviation system in the world, and thanks to Randy's stewardship, it became safer and stronger," he said in a written statement.
Babbitt apparently delayed telling administration officials about the arrest. White House spokesman Jay Carney said President Barack Obama and Transportation Department officials learned of the arrest Monday afternoon, about an hour before a 1:30 p.m. statement was released saying Babbitt had been placed on leave at his request.
Separately, Fairfax City police issued a statement on the arrest to the media at about noon Monday, which their policies require in cases where a public official has been arrested. Police refused to disclose the results of Babbitt's blood alcohol test. The legal limit is .08.
LaHood has aggressively campaigned against drunken driving, and is working with police agencies and safety advocates on an annual holiday crackdown on drinking and driving later this month. Safety advocates credit LaHood with doing more to raise the visibility of human factors in highway safety — including drunken driving, drivers distracted by cell phone use, and parents who fail to buckle in their children — than any previous transportation secretary.
Deputy FAA Administrator Michael Huerta will serve as acting administrator, the Transportation Department statement said. In recent months Huerta has been leading the FAA's troubled NextGen effort to transition from an air traffic control system based on World War II-era radar technology to one based on satellite technology.
Babbitt was a former airline captain and internationally recognized expert in aviation and labor relations when Obama tapped him in 2009 to head the FAA. He was a pilot for the now-defunct Eastern Airlines for 25 years, and had served as president of the Air Line Pilots Association. As head of ALPA, he championed the "one level of safety" initiative implemented in 1995 to improve safety standards across the airline industry.
Babbitt's nomination in 2009 was warmly received by both industry officials and airline unions. His easy manner and insider's knowledge of the airline industry generated respect in Congress, where he regularly testified on safety issues and in support of NextGen.
Babbitt took over at the FAA when the agency was still reeling from the exposure of widespread safety gaps in the regional airline industry. The problems were revealed by a National Transportation Safety Board investigation of the February 2009 crash of a regional airliner near Buffalo, N.Y., that killed 50 people.
Babbitt and LaHood promised to immediately implement a series of safety initiatives. At Babbitt's urging airlines adopted a series of voluntary safety measures, although safety advocates say voluntary measures aren't enough. The FAA under Babbitt has also initiated several efforts to craft major new safety regulations, ranging from preventing pilot fatigue to boosting experience levels and training of airline pilots.
But Babbitt has struggled to realize several of those safety proposals. Some proposals have stalled as industry opponents lobbied White House officials against the proposed regulations, saying they would cost too much or be too burdensome.
The biggest crisis of Babbitt's FAA tenure occurred last spring over a period of several weeks when nine air traffic controllers were allegedly caught sleeping on the job or were unresponsive to radio calls while on duty. The head of the FAA's Air Traffic Organization was forced to resign during the ensuing uproar.
As the FAA's top official, Babbitt has the final say in disciplinary proceedings involving controllers who violate the agency's drug and alcohol regulations.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Read more content from msnbc.com and NBC News:
- We are the median: Military makes $50,000 feel like more
- A consumer's tale of a credit report 'Catch 22'
- Sandusky's dinner with alleged victims raises questions
- We are the median: Living on $50,000 a year
- Kids pay biggest price for world's gold craving
- Crashed drone puts US secrets at risk
Leave a Comment:
Last month, Wall Street Walmart Republican heiress DUIs in Texas, the Sheriff tries to cover it up. 1998, in drunken binge she murders a mother of two children. Not one word ever reported by the Wall Street Corporate Media. The 99% have had enough!
www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/10/14/walmart-heiress-spends-birthday-in-jail-for-dwi/
www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20120165-504083.html?tag=mncol;lst;2
I know you drank and drove before. If not then you've done something else that only god can forgive you for. Like i said multiple offenders, fine those guys need to go to jail or something needs to be done but first time offenders? WTF like no one has made a mistake before? Your all goin to hell anyways you sinners.
What part of Walmart heiress did you not understand?
What you people need to realize right now is if alcohol is legal then drinking and driving WILL ALWAYS HAPPEN. So if you really want to do something make it a dry country.. Oh wait America has tried this before. We went back to making alcohol legal again because of the profits we rake in. Even MADD is a profit making scheme.
jhonn in most religions you should be put down for having this sin ful internet how far does one take it who is right who says they are right and who gives the right get real dude or move
Dude in your picture you look drunk at the dry lake lol. So you should be hung. Your typing back there indicated that your buzzed right now.
whats wrong with my pic lol I am a human and alive
I have never said I could type two fingers are just that and hey just a guy really an old guy so we shouldnt talk ?
The beat goes on, yeah the beat goes on.
What i say makes sense, everything else is a bunch of bull-s.hit money scamming garbage.
why can they not see goofy jhon we must be broken for they see better than others
I am sad that he has embarrassed our profession.
I am glad that he has embarrassed the FAA.
geez he wasnt at work get real you have one life f#@@@@@ with it is wrong no should own anyone it is wrong
Owned up to it? He was CAUGHT driving on the wrong side of the road, then tested and shown to be intoxicated. Where's the integrity in that? What choice did he have? If he would stay on as FAA Chief, there would be a firestorm for the President; not him.
Now if he would have gotten home safely and phoned Mr. LaHood or his FAA Deputy and resigned after explaining what he had done, then I would certainly agree that he was a man of principle and integrity. However, the story as presented, places him with other high-profile people caught doing something STUPID and caught by the police or media. Resigning or apologizing to protect their boss or bosses.
The guy's civil rights have been viloated.
I wouldn't have resigned. There are probably many more in government that have done the same thing or worse and are still there. However, what you did does put you a class or 2 ahead of them.
You are so right.
It is getting crowded under Obama's bus.
You are so right.
It is getting crowded under Obama's bus.
You are so right.
It is getting crowded under Obama's bus.
Flying the friendly skies!!
What pisses me off is if your a good law abiding citizen and make one mistake that the majority of people who do drink end up driving, your a freakin criminal, passed murderer... Its like cmon most people have drank and drove before atleast once and never caught. MADD has seriously corrupted the law by making it a nightmare to hold down a job or em-better yourself if you only have 1 stupid dui. Its like people make mistakes give them a break for god sakes. SO do some punishment some AA meetings and get on with life why does it have to be 10 yrs on your record! When everyone else before the law passed it was only on there for a few yrs maybe 2.
What pisses me off is if your a good law abiding citizen and make one mistake that the majority of people who do drink end up driving, your a freakin criminal, passed murderer... Its like cmon most people have drank and drove before atleast once and never caught. MADD has seriously corrupted the law by making it a nightmare to hold down a job or em-better yourself if you only have 1 stupid dui. Its like people make mistakes give them a break for god sakes. SO do some punishment some AA meetings and get on with life why does it have to be 10 yrs on your record! When everyone else before the law passed it was only on there for a few yrs maybe 2.
Very rarely do I see the term "DWI" as a reference to drunken driving anymore. "DWI" meant "driving while intoxicated". Later, the term "DUI" (driving under the influence) was used. Now, the term "OVI" (operating vehicle intoxicated" is most commonly used. Still, DWI, DUI, and OVI mean the same thing...drunken driving.
What pisses me off is if your a good law abiding citizen and make one mistake that the majority of people who do drink end up driving, your a freakin criminal, passed murderer... Its like cmon most people have drank and drove before atleast once and never caught. MADD has seriously corrupted the law by making it a nightmare to hold down a job or em-better yourself if you only have 1 stupid dui. Its like people make mistakes give them a break for god sakes. SO do some punishment some AA meetings and get on with life why does it have to be 10 yrs on your record! When everyone else before the law passed it was only on there for a few yrs maybe 2.
he should loose any pension also
The man takes a "couple" of drinks and drives.He only gets caught once, and he's the bad guy. What,no credit for the thousands of(possible) times he alluded the police?
Look. No harm, no foul.
Besides, it was the distiller's fault.
To "Bill from Oregon"...You clearly don't understand substance abuse. "Stupid" has nothing to do with it.
I think what he did is admirable, and may have been because he has a deep-seeded problem with alcohol and recognizes that quitting while he was ahead is in the best interests of his agency, his life, and the lives of others drivers and perhaps even pedestrians.
Oh come on people! At least he wasnt asleep in the control tower with thousands of passengers in the sky waiting to land???? Oh My BAd. Later fam.