US EditionSenate approves bill inspired by DC plane crash to ensure military aircraft will broadcast location
The bipartisan ROTOR Act mandates all aircraft use ADS-B to broadcast locations after a deadly midair crash killed 67, closing military flight safety gaps, Senate says.
- On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate passed the bipartisan ROTOR Act unanimously, sending the measure to the House of Representatives and drawing praise from Families of Flight 5342.
- After the deadly Jan. 29 crash, investigators found American Airlines Flight 5342 collided with an Army Black Hawk near Reagan National Airport, killing 67 and exposing safety gaps as the Black Hawk wasn’t transmitting its position.
- The ROTOR Act directs the FAA to review airport airspace safety nationwide, improve FAA-military information-sharing, and requires all aircraft to transmit ADS-B location data, limiting the U.S. Army’s ability to fly helicopters without broadcasting location.
- In March the Federal Aviation Administration required military helicopters to keep locator systems on in D.C. airspace, and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford promised Tuesday to maintain those measures while victims' families urged the House of Representatives to act before January 29, 2026.
- The NTSB has long urged mandatory locators, but Republican Senate leaders declined to amend the defense bill to avoid a House vote, leaving timing unclear as the ROTOR Act heads to the House with sponsors optimistic for next month.
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39 Articles
Senate Passes Aviation Safety Bill Aiming to Prevent Further Midair Collisions
The Senate on Dec. 17 passed Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) bill that creates new safety requirements for nearly all aircraft and helicopters, while also stripping a provision out of the recently passed defense bill that several lawmakers say created a dangerous loophole for military helicopters. Cruz’s ROTOR Act passed by unanimous consent, a fast-track mechanism that bypasses a formal vote if no lawmaker stands up to contest it. The bill “will save…
Associated Press News
Senate approves bill inspired by DC plane crash to ensure military aircraft will broadcast location
The Senate has moved quickly to close a loophole that could allow military aircraft to fly without broadcasting their locations, just like an Army helicopter was doing last January before it collided with an airliner over Washington, D.C., killing 67 people.
The U.S. Senate passed a bill on Wednesday (December 17) introduced by Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz, aimed at improving the safety of military helicopter flights, especially those near Reagan Washington National Airport.
Senate Passes Helicopter Safety Legislation
The U.S. Senate on Wednesday approved a set of rules designed to prevent collisions between aircraft, just days after language in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) sparked concern that Washington was not doing enough to prevent a repeat of a January crash involving an American Airlines airplane and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas sought and received unanimous consent for the Rotorcraft Operations Transpar…
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