WTAS: ROTOR Act Would Enact NTSB Recommendations

WTAS: ROTOR Act Would Enact NTSB Recommendations

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) yesterday released safety recommendations from its investigation of the midair collision involving American Airlines Flight 5342 and a U.S. Army helicopter on January 29, 2025, urging all aircraft that operate where broadcasting ADS-B Out is required to also use ADS-B In.

Chairman Ted Cruz's (R-Texas) bipartisan Rotorcraft Operations Transparency and Oversight Reform (ROTOR) Act, which the Senate passed unanimously in December, would codify this recommendation.

Coverage details how the ROTOR Act fulfills one of NTSB's top recommendations:

"The crafting of the Rotor Act represents a refreshing case of serious legislating to address a narrow problem, not a knee-jerk reaction to 'do something' after a tragedy. Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) worked with the Pentagon, FAA, NTSB and aviation groups to hammer out solutions." - The Washington Post Editorial Board

"Ben Shtuhl, whose partner, Melissa Nicandri, was among the passengers aboard Flight 5342, said the changes were necessary but don't go far enough. "The NTSB report is another step in getting real accountability from agencies and others," he said."…"Shtuhl said he hopes the NTSB's findings will bolster congressional efforts to repeal that provision by passing a bipartisan measure known as the Rotorcraft Operations Transparency and Oversight Reform Act (ROTOR)." - Washington Post reporters Rachel Weiner, Lori Aratani and Tara Copp

"The NTSB recommended that the FAA also require ADS-B In on aircraft that already need ADS-B Out. That's sure to give a boost to Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and the committee's top Democrat, Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington state, whose bipartisan ROTOR Act, S. 2503, would implement this very plan." - Politico reporters Sam Ogozalek and Pavan Acharya

"The US Army helicopter also failed to broadcast its position using a technology known as ADS-B Out, which factored into the accident. Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and ranking member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), have teamed up on legislation to tighten the rules that allow military aircraft to fly without having ADS-B Out turned on (S. 1706). The Senate passed the bill in December but it has since stalled in the House." - Bloomberg Transportation

"The board also highlighted the ROTOR Act, pending legislation that would require military and government helicopters to carry ADS-B equipment and keep it activated in shared airspace. Investigators said the technology could have provided collision alerts up to a minute before impact." - AeroTime editor Stephen Pope

"In December, Homendy condemned a section in the National Defense Authorization Act that would allow military helicopters to operate without ADS-B Out, watering down the requirement made by the FAA at the NTSB's urging."…"Soon after, a group of senators on the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, led by Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell, filed an amendment to strike that section from the bill. After meeting with families of the American Airlines Flight 5342 victims, they had also introduced the bipartisan ROTOR Act, which would close all loopholes that allow any military flights to use under "sensitive government mission" exemptions. The act passed in the Senate but is stuck in the House." - Washingtonian staff writer Ike Allen

"Testimony Tuesday concluded with recommendations from the NTSB to prevent crashes. Some reforms rely on Congress, the Army and the Trump administration. Chief among them is a bill that would require aircraft to have advanced locator systems to help prevent collisions, which NTSB has recommended for years. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz said at the memorial that the bill was close to final passage." - Associated Press reporter Safiyah Riddle

"In the months that followed, major media outlets probed several real-world factors that contributed to the tragedy, including staffing shortages at FAA towers, an excess of traffic in the D.C. airspace, and the failure of the Black Hawk to broadcast its location over ADS-B - an automatic reporting system - before the collision. To address this final point, the Senate last month passed the bipartisan ROTOR Act, which would require all aircraft to use ADS-B - "a fitting way to honor the lives of those lost nearly one year ago over the Potomac River," as bill co-sponsor Ted Cruz put it." - New York Magazine contributor Jeff Wise.

Background:

The ROTOR Act requires all aircraft, civil and military, to equip and receive ADS-B broadcasting signals. The bill also directs the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to comprehensively evaluate airspace safety at major U.S. airports across the country (another NTSB recommendation), and it improves aviation safety information sharing between the FAA and the military. Finally, the updated ROTOR Act strips section 373(a) from the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which widens the loophole that allows military helicopters to operate in DC airspace without broadcasting their location. The ROTOR Act has the backing of the White House and the Department of War.

Senator Cruz introduced the ROTOR Act along with Sens. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Aviation, Space, and Innovation; Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.); Ted Budd (R-N.C.); Shelly Moore Capito (R-W.Va.); Roger Marshall (R-Kan.); Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.); Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.); and Todd Young (R-Ind.) in July, six months to the day after the January 29th midair collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. In October, he and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) reached a bipartisan compromise and passed the bill unanimously out of the Commerce Committee. In December, the Senate unanimously passed the ROTOR Act.

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