Requires the FAA to convene an independent expert panel that reviews the agency's safety management system and recommends improvements, with the panel's report due within 180 days of its first meeting.

• Requires the FAA Administrator to convene an independent expert panel within 60 days after enactment of this section.
• Directs the panel to review FAA safety orders, the effectiveness of the system's four components (safety policy, risk management, assurance, and promotion), safety culture, internal audits, voluntary safety reporting programs, and ICAO Annex 19 standards.
• Sets the panel's membership, including NASA and NTSB representatives, aviation labor representatives such as air traffic controllers and aviation safety inspectors, independent safety management experts, air carrier and certificate holder employees, and an aerospace industry representative.
• Requires the panel's report within 180 days of its first meeting, with findings endorsed by at least two-thirds of appointed members, and requires the Administrator to publish it within 5 days.
• Requires the Administrator to brief Congress every 90 days for two years after the report on actions taken in response to the recommendations.

• Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee (Senate)

Transportation and Public Works