​Remarks as prepared for delivery.

​Good evening, everyone. 

Thank you, Mayor Gaskins and the Alexandria City Council for bringing us together.

As I stand here, I think we all know that no memorial, no plaque, no remembrance ceremony can give you what you deserve: To have your loved ones back.

To celebrate all their special moments.

To cheer on and coach champion figure skaters.

To ring a cow bell from the sidelines of a marathon.

To guide children as they pursue their dreams.

To attend Taekwondo matches.

To walk picket lines.

To share stories about exciting hunting trips and SCUBA diving excursions.

To attend promotion ceremonies for service members.

To share the joy of flying with young passengers by handing out kiddie wings and trading cards.

To hug a teddy bear.

To experience the absolute joy of holding your newborn baby for the first time.

That’s what they should be doing today.

On January 29th, the world lost 67 beautiful people who’ve been missed every hour, every minute, every second since this tragedy occurred.

The NTSB was there that night. We’ll never forget you or your loved ones. And we will fight for safety change in their honor.​

​We will NOT give up. I will not give up.

A year after this devastating tragedy, we issued 74 findings and 50 safety recommendations to prevent it from happening again.

Every day that passes without implementation of all 50 NTSB recommendations represents a continued and unacceptable risk to public safety.

I mean that. Forty-five thousand flights — and 3 million airline passengers — travel across the National Airspace System every day.

And yet, 126 days have passed without action since we released our recommendations.

One hundred twenty-six days of unacceptable status quo.

One hundred twenty-six missed opportunities to honor your cherished loved ones, whose absence you’ve had to endure for much longer.

In a couple of minutes, we’re going to hear from Christi Donoso, who will recite her poem, “Everything is Different.”

Everything is different.

It’s been different for each of the 488 days since this accident occurred.

But everything is also different for us at the NTSB. Because we know this was preventable.

And we know it’s our collective duty to prevent the next one.

That means all of us: The leaders here today, Congress, DOT, NTSB, FAA, the Army, DOD — we’re ALL responsible for ensuring change.

Because everything is different.

And that means implementing all 50 of our safety recommendations. That means action.

I said this earlier, and I’m going to say it again: Every day that passes without implementation of all 50 NTSB recommendations represents a continued and unacceptable risk to public safety.

We must act for every person who sets foot on an aircraft that shares our skies, from commercial flights to military helicopters and everything in between.

We must act for every one of us living, working, and playing here at ground level.

We must act for future generations, whose lives we can still save.

We must act for the 67 people who perished on January 29th.

We must act for your loved ones. Tonight, we remember them all.

We reaffirm our commitment to aviation safety.

We demand action — and we demand it now.

We can’t afford a single day’s delay. Not one more day.

Not one more moment of preventable risk.

Not one more accident.​​

Not one more tragedy.

Not one more grieving family.

Not one.

Because everything is different.