AUSTIN, Texas — After two deaths at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) this year, the City of Austin is trying to figure out how to improve safety.
In a memo to the mayor and city council members on Friday, Interim City Manager Jesús Garza said the deaths in April and October have had "profound impacts" on the airport community.
In April, an American Airlines employee died when a ground service vehicle hit a jet bridge. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently closed its investigation into this incident, ultimately not citing any companies.
Then on Halloween, an airport employee was killed after they were struck by an aircraft fueling truck. OSHA and the Austin Police Department (APD) are still actively investigating this incident.
Garza said that the City is cooperating with the OSHA and APD investigations, but he did not have an additional details to provide because the investigations are ongoing.
Garza added that he has asked Jim Smith, the interim director of the City's Department of Aviation, to review the department's safety programs to help identify what "elements of the airport enterprise" are specifically under the City's purview, as well as the safety initiatives already underway at the airport and how the City can influence safety measures outside its direct control.
Garza said an overview will be provided to the council this week that lays out the "operations related to safety including these tragic events and following recent near-miss incidents involving federal air traffic controllers and aircraft operators."
"Understandably, many of you still have questions regarding this recent event, as do I," Garza wrote in the memo. "Please know that we are committed to providing you with additional information when it becomes available."
Item 55 on the council's Nov. 9 meeting agenda involves approving a resolution regarding operations at the airport and urging the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to take immediate action "to improve the safety of travelers." The item is sponsored by Councilmembers Vanessa Fuentes, Alison Alter, José Velásquez, Mackenzie Kelly and Mayor Pro Tem Paige Ellis.
Safety at the airport is also set to be discussed at an Airport Advisory Commission meeting on Nov. 8. According to the commission's agenda, it plans to discuss and possibly act on a recommendation supporting a recommendation made by Congressman Lloyd Doggett to the FAA in a letter sent on Oct. 16. That letter directly addressed the multiple near-miss incidents at AUS so far this year.