House considers bill that some say would have prevented deadly DC midair collision

Washington (CNN) — The House of Representatives is set to consider whether a collision avoidance system that supporters say could have prevented last year’s deadly midair collision near Washington should be required on every plane in the US.

Sixty-seven people were killed on January 29, 2025, when a US Army helicopter on a training flight collided with an American Airlines regional jet, operated by PSA Airlines, as it was landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Most aircraft are already required to automatically send out signals known as ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast), which include their location and other data so they can be tracked. The American regional plane was sending out the signal, but Army helicopters did not transmit the data. Neither pilot was able to receive information from the other because their aircraft were only equipped to transmit, not receive, ADS-B information.

The ROTOR Act, introduced in the Senate last year, would require all aircraft transmitting to also receive ADS-B data, called “ADS-B In,” so pilots could use it to look for other aircraft.

“It is clear from our investigation that had the crew had ADS-B In flight 5342 would have had a 59 second alert versus the 19 seconds they had … which was ineffective in preventing the crash,” National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy told CNN Monday.

The bill would also require military aircraft to use ADS-B to transmit their location in most situations, including during training flights, which the Department of Defense currently opposes.

A House committee is proposing a competing bill, called the ALERT Act, which it says is a wide-ranging measure to address all 50 issues the NTSB brought up in its report.

“The best way to serve and honor the victims and their families is by thoughtfully addressing the broad range of safety issues raised by the now-complete accident investigation, and that’s just what the ALERT Act does,” said House transportation committee chair Sam Graves, a Missouri Republican. “The ROTOR Act touches on only two of the NTSB’s 50 recommendations and provides an overly prescriptive approach to mandating a specific technology, which is still largely under development, in a manner that can prove burdensome to some operators and create barriers to its adoption.”

But the NTSB says many of the measures fall short of addressing their concerns.

“We stand ready to work with the House but saying that they implement our recommendations right now is completely false. It does not implement our recommendations in many, many areas,” Homendy said. “Claiming falsely that they implement our recommendations is not right and that does make me angry.”

The ALERT Act, would not require ADS-B on every aircraft, specifically having a rulemaking committee look at “collision mitigation” technology and would exempt many aircraft, like those commonly flown by private pilots.

The act also requires some aircraft be equipped with technology “capable” of receiving ADS-B transmissions, but does not require they actually to use it.

Military aircraft under the ALERT Act would also be allowed to fly without broadcasting their location. The House committee proposing the ALERT Act, says it is a wide-ranging bill that addresses all 50 of ssuesissues the NTSB brought up in its report.

Homendy said she hopes the committee will work with the NTSB to make the changes needed to improve the ALERT Act, but it does not work in its current form.

“Congress can pass ROTOR, and then we can take up jointly all the other recommendations for the House to address,” she said.

A group of families of passengers killed in the collision said they could not support the ALERT Act as written because it doesn’t mandate ADS-B In and it gives the secretary of defense sole authority to decide whether to install safety technology on military aircraft, among other issues.

“Sixty-seven families are watching,” the statement read. “Do not allow a bill that was introduced (February 20) to become the reason the House fails to act on a bill the Senate passed unanimously thirteen months after the deadliest aviation disaster in a generation.”

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