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FAA chief on leave after drunken driving arrest 

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2/20/12 6:46 AM

Transportation Department officials are deciding how to handle Federal Aviation Administration

chief Randy Babbitt's weekend arrest on charges of drunken driving in suburban northern Virginia.

Babbitt was placed on a leave of absence Monday, and Transportation officials are in "discussions

with legal counsel" about his employment status. Babbitt, 65, was charged with driving while

intoxicated after a officer spotted him driving on the wrong side of the road and pulled him over 

around 10:30 p.m. Saturday in Fairfax City, Va., police in the Washington suburb said.

Babbitt was the only occupant in the vehicle, police said. He cooperated and was released on his

own recognizance.

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.

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 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

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FAA chief on leave after drunken driving arrest 

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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 controllerswho violate the agency's drug and alcohol regulations. 

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