House safety bill follows NTSB report on DC accident
A bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced a bill to implement several NTSB recommendations prompted by the investigation of the deadly midair collision between a military helicopter and regional jet in Washington, D.C., in January 2025 claimed 67 lives.
The Airspace Location and Enhanced Risk Transparency (ALERT) Act was introduced on February 19 by the leaders of the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) and the House Armed Services committees.
- Establishing requirements for equipping collision mitigation, avoidance, and alerting technologies and systems for civil fixed-wing and rotorcraft.
- Improving helicopter route design, guidance, and separation.
- Preventing loss of separation (near-miss) incidents.
- Addressing deficiencies in the FAA’s safety culture.
- Enhancing air traffic control training and procedures, particularly during high traffic.
- Strengthening the safety of the Washington, D.C., airspace—one of the nation’s busiest and most congested airspaces.
- Repealing section 373(a) of the last National Defense Authorization Act—a provision that would let military helicopters fly without ADS-B Out during training missions.
“The NTSB provided a thorough investigation into all of the factors that caused this crash,” said T&I Chairman Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.). “As I have said from the beginning, 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.”
“The bipartisan ALERT Act delivers on Chair Homendy’s calls by taking steps to comprehensively address all 50 NTSB recommendations, improving airspace safety to protect travelers from future accidents, and repealing Section 373 of the FY2026 NDAA. I urge all my colleagues to support it,” said T&I Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-Wash.).
While the bill addresses the same NTSB recommendations as the Rotorcraft Operations Transparency and Oversight Reform (ROTOR) Act, which the Senate passed unanimously in December, there are key differences.
For general aviation, the ROTOR Act would require all aircraft to equip with ADS-B In to fly in airspace that currently requires ADS-B Out. For aircraft weighing 12,500 pounds or less, the ROTOR Act provides a pathway for portable ADS-B In devices to meet the mandate.
The ALERT Act would establish an aviation rulemaking committee—including stakeholders from airlines, charter operators, GA organizations, and others—to issue recommendations for equipping turbine-powered aircraft with collision avoidance technologies.
Both bills would require certain aircraft to equip with collision avoidance technologies by December 31, 2031.
"The aviation industry has been unified in the aftermath of the tragic accident at DCA last year in making every effort with our government partners to bring forward solutions to improve aviation safety," said AOPA Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Advocacy Jim Coon. "The ALERT Act addresses NTSB's recommendations from its recently released report. AOPA commends committee leaders and remains committed to the goals of making the system safer for all users. That includes ensuring a pilot’s privacy remains protected, and collision avoidance technology, ADS-B, is used for its intended safety purpose and not for economic gain. We look forward to the ALERT Act's consideration and working with all members to promote policies that solidify the U.S. aviation system as the global gold standard."
