Sullenberger: Proposed pilot rules long overdue

After a regional jet crashed outside Buffalo, N.Y., in 2009, the National Transportation Safety Board blamed inexperienced pilots.

Now, three years after that crash that killed 50 people, the Federal Aviation Administration is proposing tough new rules for airline co-pilots.

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The rules raise the minimum level of experience to be an airline co-pilot from 250 hours to about 1,500 hours.

The current hours necessary to fly a commercial flight are "unbelievably low," Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, CBS News aviation and safety expert, said on "CBS This Morning."

The proposed FAA rules, expected to go into effect in 2013, also include more airplane-specific training and more guidelines on pilot licensing.

"It's been long overdue," Sullenberger said. "Even with this new rule...we still will not have achieved what we've been trying to do in the industry for decades, and that's to achieve one level of safety across the board, regional (airlines) included. There's still much work to be done."

For more with Sullenberger on the new proposed FAA rules, watch the video in the player above.