WASHINGTON -- The House late Thursday passed the aviation safety measures that the Families of Continental Flight 3407 have pushed for more than a year, and the Senate is expected to do the same today.

Barring an unexpected last-minute development in the Senate, then, the nation soon will have a new law that dramatically boosts the amount of flight time required for beginning pilots of passenger airlines from the current 250 hours to 1,500.

Pilots will have to undergo far more rigorous training, and a database of pilot information will be set up so that airlines know the flight records of their prospective pilots.

And it all will have happened because of the 16 people dressed in red who looked on in the House gallery last night, and because of the other Flight 3407 family members who could not attend this week's big moments.

Over 15 months, members of the families group made more than 30 trips to Washington to press for the changes in the aftermath of the Flight 3407 crash in Clarence Center that killed 50 people in February 2009.

The vote on the aviation measure was delayed repeatedly as the House tried to cram several days of work into its last two days before a summer recess. House aides said the aviation bill passed by voice vote very late Thursday night.

Wednesday, the key lawmakers overseeing aviation issues on both sides of Capitol Hill -- long stalemated over the broad Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization that included the safety changes -- modified their strategy, apparently handing the families a long-sought victory.

The lawmakers stripped the safety provisions from the larger FAA measure and attached them instead to a must-pass stopgap bill funding the agency through Sept. 30.

The families spent much of the day waiting for the vote, first in congressional cafeterias, then in a hotel lobby, before crowding into a van and heading to the Capitol.

"Everybody just wants this done," said Kathy Johnston, whose husband, Kevin, was killed in the crash. "I'm just so glad for him and for everyone else that this is happening."

Robin Tolsma, whose husband, Darren, was one of the victims, spent the day at the side of Jennifer West, who lost her husband, Ernie, in the crash.

Although there was still one more vote to go before the bill would become final, Tolsma and the rest of the family members knew that their goal was finally within reach.

"Today," Tolsma said, "I want to hug my son, my best friend, Jennifer, and my 3407 family and rejoice that we helped make the skies safer -- that we achieved our dream."

jzremski@buffnews.comnull