Times Union

First published: Thursday, May 23, 2002

On May 9 and 10, we had the opportunity to attend a NTSB public hearing in Washington, D.C. The hearing was part of the safety board's ongoing investigation into the flight of Emery 17, a DC-8 cargo plane that crashed in Sacramento, Calif., in February 2000. Our son, Kevin Stables, was the captain of Emery 17. There were no survivors.

Soon after the crash, our family expressed a strong desire for a comprehensive NTSB public hearing on the matter. By many indications, this was not likely to occur since the NTSB has never before convened a public hearing into the crash of an air cargo plane.

At the time of the accident, our son and his family resided in New York's 22nd Congressional District. Thanks to Rep. John E. Sweeney's effective representation in Washington, the NTSB went forward and convened a two-day hearing on factors that led to our son's untimely death.

Thanks to Representative Sweeney's dedicated representation, we received some of the answers we were seeking. We are hopeful that the historic hearing represents an indication that substandard oversight and inadequate maintenance will no longer be tolerated in the expanding air cargo industry.

DAVE and EDITH STABLES Queensbury, New York