By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, Feb 23 (Reuters) – The Pentagon raised significant concerns about an aviation safety bill set to be taken up on Monday by the U.S. House of Representatives meant to address safety issues that arose from a 2025 aircraft collision over Washington airspace that killed 67 people in the worst U.S. aviation disaster since 2001.
The ROTOR Act, passed unanimously by the U.S. Senate in December, would require aircraft operators to equip their fleets with a safety system known as the automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast system, or ADS-B, by the end of 2031. It would also require the military to use ADS-B on routine training flights but not on sensitive military missions.
The legislation follows the January 2025 disaster, when an American Airlines regional jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided in the crowded airspace over the nation’s capital. Major aviation unions and many of the families of those killed have urged the House to quickly pass the bill.
In December, the Pentagon said it supported the legislation, sponsored by Senate Commerce Committee chair Ted Cruz and the panel’s top Democrat, Maria Cantwell. But in its letter released Monday, the Pentagon said the bill could create “significant unresolved budgetary burdens and operational security risks affecting national defense activities.”
The National Transportation Safety Board said the use of ADS-B could have given the passenger plane pilot an alert 59 seconds before the collision and the helicopter crew 48 seconds before.
The Black Hawk was not broadcasting ADS-B at the time of the crash.
The ROTOR Act also boosts oversight of commercial jet and helicopter traffic and flight routes near commercial airports.
Last month, the NTSB found systemic failures by the FAA led to the collision, particularly the regulator’s decision to allow helicopters to travel close to the airport with no safeguards to separate them from airplanes, and its failure to act on previous recommendations to move helicopter traffic away from the airport.
The Washington area is home to three commercial airports and several major military facilities. Since 2021, there have been 15,200 incidents near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport where a commercial airplane and a helicopter were closer than what is considered proper distance, including 85 close-call events, according to the NTSB.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chris Reese and David Gaffen)
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