Washington — The House on Tuesday passed its version of an aviation safety bill, months after it rejected separate legislation that had cleared the Senate with unanimous support and angered families of the victims of a deadly midair crash near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
In a 396-10 vote, the House approved the ALERT Act, introduced in response to the January 2025 collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and an Army Black Hawk that killed all 67 people aboard both aircraft. The bill would require all aircraft operating near busy airports to install equipment that can receive data about other nearby aircraft. Many planes already broadcast their locations using ADS-B Out, but do not have ADS-B In, the collision-avoidance receivers the bill emphasizes.
Investigators and victims’ families say ADS-B In could have prevented the crash of American Airlines Flight 5342. The bipartisan measure would also require most military aircraft to install collision-prevention technologies by 2031, while exempting fighters, bombers, drones and other special-mission aircraft. The bill includes provisions addressing helicopter route safety and separation requirements, which the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) identified as the probable cause of the 2025 collision, and seeks improvements to air traffic control training and procedures.
House Republican leaders fast-tracked the ALERT Act; its passage required two-thirds support. A separate Senate bill, the ROTOR Act, failed by one vote in February after the Pentagon reversed its earlier backing, saying the ROTOR Act would create “significant unresolved budgetary burdens and operational security risks affecting national defense activities.” The Pentagon had initially endorsed the ROTOR Act in December when the Senate passed it.
In February, the NTSB said the ALERT Act as initially drafted fell short of addressing its 50 recommendations after the crash, including a universal requirement that aircraft be equipped to receive more precise location data about other aircraft. House lawmakers amended the bill; the NTSB said the changes would require the Department of Transportation, Department of Defense and FAA “to take actions that, when completed, would address our recommendations.”
Victims’ families responded Tuesday that the ALERT Act still does not go far enough. They warned the collision-prevention technologies the bill relies on are “not market ready and could take years to become widely available,” predicting broad waiver requests from industry and pressure on Congress to delay compliance rather than enforce it.
Sen. Ted Cruz, who along with Sen. Maria Cantwell leads the Senate Transportation Committee, argued the ROTOR Act remains the better option and criticized the ALERT Act for lacking a clear implementation requirement for ADS-B technology. Cruz said Congress should not advance a bill that “neither improves aviation safety nor closes the loopholes that have allowed operators, including the military, to fly blind in congested airspace.”