The NTSB has announced its support for a revised House aviation safety bill, though families of victims from a midair collision near Washington, D.C., are pressing for stronger requirements and timelines for the bill’s reforms, according to the Associated Press (AP) [src_001].
The National Transportation Safety Board stated that the Alert Act now incorporates its recommendation for all aircraft flying around busy airports to have locator systems, which would improve pilots’ awareness of nearby air traffic [src_001]. The NTSB has been advocating for these systems since 2008 [src_001].
The victims’ families, however, are holding out on their endorsement until the bill includes strict implementation timelines like those in the Senate bill, which narrowly failed to pass. “Any safety requirement that routes implementation through negotiated processes, administrative discretion, or multi-step rulemaking creates opportunities for delay that cost lives,” the families said [src_001]. They added that “The strongest version of this bill will set clear statutory timelines and performance standards that leave no room for process to become an obstacle” [src_001].
The new version of the bill has advanced unanimously from two key House committees and is set to go to the full House for a vote. After a House vote, both representatives and senators will need to collaborate to refine the bill before it goes to the Senate for a vote [src_001].
Senators Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell, who were involved in crafting the Senate bill, share the families’ concerns that the Alert Act still lacks a robust requirement for the locator system [src_001]. In a joint statement, the senators stated that any legislation will need the strongest standard for those systems in order to pass the Senate [src_001].
NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy had previously criticized the original version of the bill, characterizing it last month as a “watered down” measure lacking the necessary measures to prevent future tragedies [src_001]. The board stated that the revised version, which incorporated input from agency experts, addresses the identified shortcomings [src_001].
The NTSB noted that the bill now mandates the FAA, Transportation Department, and the military to take actions addressing its recommendations [src_001]. Specifically, the bill now requires planes to have Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast In systems that can receive location data from other aircraft. These systems would have alerted pilots of an American Airlines jet sooner about the impending collision with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on January 29, 2025 [src_001]. While most planes already have ADS-B Out systems that broadcast their locations, the “In” component is what’s missing [src_001].
The NTSB cited systemic weaknesses and years of ignored warnings as the primary causes of the 2025 crash [src_001]. Homendy stated that if both aircraft had been equipped with ADS-B In systems and those systems had been active, the collision could have been prevented [src_001]. At the time of the crash, Army policy mandated that its helicopters fly without the system active in order to conceal their locations, although the helicopter involved was on a training flight [src_001].
Key industry groups, including the Airlines for America trade group and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, have voiced their support for the House bill [src_001].