By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, Feb 6 (Reuters) – A bipartisan group of U.S. House lawmakers said they plan to introduce legislation to address a series of safety recommendations after a January 2025 mid-air collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and Army helicopter killed 67.
The top Republicans and Democrats on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Armed Services Committee said in a joint statement they are working “expeditiously on legislation to ensure a crash like this can never happen again.”
The National Transportation Safety Board last week made 50 recommendations after the deadliest U.S. aviation disaster since November 2001.
House Transportation Chair Sam Graves, Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers and Democrats Rick Larsen and Adam Smith said in the statement “meaningful improvements to the safety of our airspace require the full and fair consideration of all of the NTSB’s recommendations.”
In December, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed legislation to toughen military helicopter safety rules and require aircraft operators by the end of 2031 to equip their fleets with an automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast system, also known as ADS-B. The bill known as the ROTOR Act, also boosts oversight of commercial jet and helicopter traffic and flight routes near commercial airports.
Senate Commerce Committee chair Ted Cruz told Reuters he was scheduling a closed-door meeting Thursday so senators on the panel can listen to the cockpit voice recordings from the fatal collision synched with a crash recreation.
This week, Cruz listened to the recordings.
“It makes you sick to your stomach because it illustrates compellingly that if the ROTOR Act had been law a year ago 67 moms and dads, sons and daughters, and brothers and sisters would still be alive,” he said.
Federal law prohibits public airings of the recordings but Congress can review the materials.
Cruz has called NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy to testify on February 12 on the findings.
The NTSB determined the accident was caused by the FAA’s decision to allow helicopters to travel close to the airport with no safeguards to separate them from airplanes and its failure to review data and act on recommendations to move helicopter traffic away from the airport.
The NTSB made 50 recommendations – most to the FAA – urging comprehensive reforms to helicopter route design, air traffic control procedures, data sharing, and collision avoidance technology.
Cruz said the legislation allows general aviation pilots to use less expensive portable systems to comply. “The technology is available for a couple hundred dollars,” Cruz said.
(Reporting by David ShepardsonEditing by Nick Zieminski)
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