WASHINGTON — The Senate late Tuesday unanimously passed a proposal that would

dramatically boost the number of flight hours that commercial co-pilots must have before they

can fly passengers.

Moving forward on a bill to reauthorize funding for the Federal Aviation Administration,

senators approved an amendment offered by Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y. The measure would

require new co-pilots to have 800 hours of flight experience under specific, rigorous

conditions. That's up from the current 250 hours of general experience.

The families who lost loved ones in the February 2009 commuter plane crash in Clarence

Center — in which pilot training and experience were key issues — have been

pushing for a 1,500-hour requirement.

But Schumer told the families last week that he "didn't have the votes" for that

requirement, Scott Maurer, a key member of the families group, said Tuesday.

While the families will continue pushing the 1,500 requirement in House legislation, Maurer

said, the Senate amendment "certainly sets the floor at a level that we believe will

significantly improve aviation safety."

Schumer's amendment had been expected to be combined with a series of other changes to the

FAA bill that are still being developed. Set to be released later this week, those changes

also are likely to include additional aviation safety measures stemming from the crash of

Flight 3407 in Clarence.

Under the Schumer compromise, the FAA would have to set an 800-hour flight requirement for

co-pilots by the end of next year. Some of that experience would have to be in multiple-pilot

environments and adverse weather, including icing, as well as in other specific conditions.

If the FAA fails to develop and implement those rules by the end of next year, new

co-pilots automatically would be required to have 1,500 hours of experience in specific,

rigorous conditions.

The families group worked with Schumer as he crafted the compromise that the senator

announced last week and that the Senate passed Tuesday.

"It is a tribute to the fortitude, intelligence and persistence of the families that this

happened, and I will do everything I can to make sure that we bring the strongest safety

measures to the president's desk when this bill passes," Schumer said.

The Senate is expected to pass the full FAA bill within a week. It remains unclear how that

measure will be merged with a House FAA-reauthorization bill that passed last year and a

separate House aviation bill passed in the wake of the Clarence crash.