Buttigieg says recent US aviation close calls 'deeply troubling'

US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Tuesday that a series of aviation close calls was "deeply troubling and deserve our immediate attention." The FAA is holding a safety summit on Wednesday with airlines, unions, airports and other industry segments after numerous recent near-miss incidents have raised safety concerns. "While there is no apparent single cause for recent close calls and investigations are ongoing, I want to make sure we are doing everything we can, at every level, to prevent them," Buttigieg wrote in a letter to participants at the planned safety summit. Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen in a "call to action" memo last month said he was forming a safety review team to "examine the U.S. aerospace system’s structure, culture, processes, systems, and integration of safety efforts." Nolen told reporters last week that he "wanted to assure the American public" that the US aviation system is safe but wants to make sure the FAA is not missing any warning signs. "Are there any dots that we need to connect?" Nolen said, saying the FAA has not uncovered any systemic issues. Former Air Line Pilots Association President Lee Moak said in a Washington Post opinion piece on Tuesday the incidents should raise alarms. "We cannot wait for our aging and understaffed aviation infrastructure to break, and a tragedy to occur, to demand action," he wrote.<br/>