Defense

House passes aviation safety bill on second try

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by Ellen Mitchell - 04/14/26 9:18 PM ET

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by Ellen Mitchell - 04/14/26 9:18 PM ET

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After a similar bill narrowly failed in February, the House on Tuesday passed aviation safety legislation meant to prevent a replay of last year’s deadly crash between an Army helicopter and a commercial plane over Washington, D.C.

The House voted 396 to 10 for the ALERT Act, securing two thirds of the lower chamber to advance the bill to the Senate.

The bipartisan legislation, introduced by House Transportation Chair Sam Graves (R-Mo.) and House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), would require pilots flying in busy airspace to employ new collision-prevention technology to more accurately track nearby aircraft, an overhaul of helicopter routes near major airports, and updated air traffic control procedures and training -all intended to potentially prevent another major collision,

The bill is a response to the January 2025 collision near Reagan Washington National Airport between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines jet that killed all 67 aboard both aircraft.

“The bipartisan ALERT Act is a comprehensive package that addresses the probable cause, contributing factors and responds to all 50 safety recommendations that were issued by the NTSB,” Graves said during a March 26 House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee markup, as reported by Roll Call.

The act’s passage in the House follows a Feb. 24 vote for the Rotorcraft Operations Transparency and Oversight Reform (ROTOR) Act, which was one vote away from a majority two-thirds passage.

That legislation — pushed through the Senate in December by Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas) — was meant to address helicopter safety issues via requiring most planes to install and use an advanced location-receiving technology known as Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B). Military aircraft also would be required to have ADS-B turned on for routine training flights but not on sensitive missions.

The ADS-B was found to have been turned off on the Army Black Hawk helicopter when it collided with the jet.

Though it had the backing of key industry groups, the ALERT Act was not without its detractors, with Cruz and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), as well as the families of the crash victims, believing it needed to be strengthened.

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