House aviation safety bill drafted after midair collision gains NTSB support

NTSB Backs Revised Aviation Safety Bill, Victims’ Families Push for Stricter Timelines

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has thrown its support behind a revised version of the House’s aviation safety bill, known as the Alert Act, after lawmakers made significant changes to address safety recommendations. However, families of the 67 victims killed in last year’s midair collision near Washington, D.C., are still pushing for stronger implementation requirements.

The revised legislation now includes provisions requiring aircraft flying around busy airports to install key locator systems that would enable pilots to more precisely track surrounding air traffic. This addresses a recommendation the NTSB has been making since 2008.

“The revised bill would now require the Federal Aviation Administration, Transportation Department and the military to take actions that would address our recommendations,” the NTSB said in a statement this week, marking a significant shift from their previous position.

Last month, NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy had harshly criticized the original version as a “watered down” measure that wouldn’t adequately prevent future tragedies. The updated bill was crafted with input from NTSB experts who investigate crashes.

While encouraged by the changes, victims’ families said Thursday they won’t endorse the legislation until it includes strict implementation timelines similar to those in the Senate bill, which fell one vote short of passage.

“Any safety requirement that routes implementation through negotiated processes, administrative discretion, or multi-step rulemaking creates opportunities for delay that cost lives,” the families stated. “The strongest version of this bill will set clear statutory timelines and performance standards that leave no room for process to become an obstacle.”

The bill will require planes to have Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast In (ADS-B In) systems capable of receiving location data from other aircraft. These systems would have alerted pilots of the American Airlines jet sooner about the impending collision with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on January 29, 2025. Most aircraft already have ADS-B Out systems that broadcast their locations.

According to Homendy, if both the commercial aircraft and the military helicopter had been equipped with ADS-B In technology and had those systems activated, the fatal collision could have been prevented. At the time of the crash, Army policy mandated that its helicopters fly with these systems turned off to conceal their locations, despite this particular helicopter being on a training flight rather than a sensitive mission.

The NTSB’s investigation cited “systemic weaknesses” and years of ignored safety warnings as the primary causes of the crash.

Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Washington), who crafted the Senate version of the bill, echoed the families’ concerns that the Alert Act still lacks an ironclad requirement for effective implementation of the locator system. In a joint statement, they emphasized that any legislation would need the strongest standard for these systems to pass the Senate.

“The bill will now go to the full House for a vote after two key House committees unanimously advanced the new version on Thursday,” according to congressional sources. Following House approval, representatives and senators will need to collaborate on final adjustments before the Senate votes on it.

The legislation has garnered support from several key industry stakeholders, including the Airlines for America trade group and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, potentially smoothing its path toward final passage.

Aviation safety experts note that this legislative push represents one of the most significant attempts to update aircraft safety requirements in years, coming after a series of high-profile incidents that have raised public concerns about air travel safety standards and enforcement.