Lawmakers from the U.S. House of Representatives released detailed legislation Thursday aimed at addressing safety issues identified by the National Transportation Safety Board after the January 2025 midair collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
The ALERT Act, introduced by bipartisan leaders of the House Transportation and Infrastructure and Armed Services committees, seeks to respond to findings from the National Transportation Safety Board’s yearlong investigation into the accident that involved an American Airlines regional jet and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and resulted in 67 fatalities.
Legislative Details
Lawmakers said the measure, fully titled the Airspace Location and Enhanced Risk Transparency (ALERT) Act, is structured to address all safety recommendations issued by the NTSB and includes provisions focused on collision-avoidance technologies, helicopter route design, air traffic control procedures and oversight of operations in complex airspace environments. The proposal also targets issues related to Federal Aviation Administration safety practices and the management of high-density airspace around DCA.
“This comprehensive bill will make our aviation system safer by directly addressing various factors that contributed to this accident,” Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves said.
Ranking member Rick Larsen added that the ALERT Act addresses all NTSB recommendations intended “to improve airspace safety to protect travelers from future accidents.”
The proposal directs the FAA to require broader implementation of ACAS-Xa for certain turbine-powered fixed-wing aircraft and to develop and mandate ACAS-Xr standards for rotorcraft operating in Class B airspace, along with collision mitigation systems capable of processing ADS-B In data and issuing integrated aural and directional traffic alerts.
It also establishes rulemakings and working groups to revise controller recurrent training in threat and error management and visual separation, evaluate supervisory time-on-position practices and implement time-based flow management at Potomac TRACON. Additional ALERT Act provisions call for reassessment of helicopter routes and vertical separation standards near airports, upgrades to controller conflict alert systems and evaluation of technologies to mitigate radio frequency congestion and blocked transmissions around Washington National.
The ALERT Act further calls for reviews of the FAA’s safety culture and its operational practices, as well as provisions for addressing civil-military coordination and airspace management around DCA.
Industry Reaction
The NBAA stated that the ALERT Act would “increase aviation safety by effectively addressing the many key lessons” identified following the collision. NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen said in the statement that “Safety is business aviation’s highest priority, first and always,” and that the proposal provides “a path for adoption across the wide diversity of aircraft in the aviation fleet.”
Vertical Aviation International also issued a statement supporting the measure, saying the ALERT Act “represents a comprehensive effort to strengthen aviation safety in response to the NTSB’s findings.” The group said the legislation incorporates the safety board’s recommendations and focuses on collision prevention, airspace safety and air traffic control standards as Congress considers next steps on the proposal.
