Airline bill heads to president's desk

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WIVB) - A landmark bill aimed at making our skies safer, is now on its way to President Obama.

 The Senate unanimously passed the legislation, Friday morning. It's a major victory for Flight 3407 families who have become lobbyists for airline safety, since the Clarence Center crash last year.

The aviation bill forces airlines to hire more experienced pilots. Among some of the provisions in the bill, requiring 1,500 hours of flight time for pilots, three times what is required now.

The bill will also ensure that websites list the regional airline on their website, when ordering airline tickets online.

This bill was pushed forward by Flight 3407 families.

Lawmakers looked at the cockpit transcripts of that fateful night.

"We took a look at the records of the pilot and discovered that the pilot and discovered the pilot had failed on multiple occasions key exams," said Senator Byron Dorgan, D, North Dakota. "Had the airline known that, the airline said 'We wouldn't have hired that pilot, had we known of those failures.'"

Those records will be available to the airlines through an industry database for pilot records.

Senator Charles Schumer released a statement within the past hour saying quote, "This is a textbook example of a small group of people who, with only right on their side, were able to overcome large and powerful special interests."

The bill now heads to the president's desk.

>> The victims' families met with Obama, when he was in Buffalo.