House Passes Aviation Safety Bill After 67 Died in D.C. Midair Crash

The House approved the ALERT Act 396 to 10 on Tuesday, four months after the same chamber killed a similar Senate bill that had passed unanimously in the upper chamber. The legislation mandates that all aircraft operating near busy airports install collision-avoidance technology called ADS-B In, which receives location data from other planes. The vote came after Pentagon opposition sank the earlier Senate version, known as the ROTOR Act, by a single vote in February.

American Airlines Flight 5342 and an Army Black Hawk collided in January 2025, killing all 67 people aboard both aircraft near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The National Transportation Safety Board determined that if the passenger jet had been equipped with ADS-B In, the fatal crash could have been prevented. Most aircraft already broadcast their positions through ADS-B Out, but they lack the receiving technology that would alert pilots to nearby traffic.

The legislation requires military aircraft to install collision-prevention technologies by 2031, though fighters, bombers, drones and special mission aircraft receive exceptions. The Pentagon originally endorsed the Senate version in December but reversed its position days before the House vote, warning the bill "would create significant unresolved budgetary burdens and operational security risks affecting national defense activities." House GOP leaders fast-tracked Tuesday's bill under rules requiring two-thirds support for passage.

Victims' families released a statement Tuesday arguing the collision prevention technologies mandated by ALERT "are not market ready and could take years to become widely available." They warned that without installation-ready equipment, industry groups will seek broad waivers and Congress will face pressure to delay compliance rather than enforce it. The families noted the bill still fails to address the root causes that led to the 2025 crash.

Senate Transportation Committee leaders Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell issued a bipartisan statement in March arguing the ALERT Act would fail to prevent deadly midair collisions because it lacks clear implementation requirements for ADS-B technology. Cruz maintained Tuesday that the ROTOR Act remains the superior option and urged Congress to address what he called a "significant issue" rather than advance legislation that "neither improves aviation safety nor closes the loopholes that have allowed operators, including the military, to fly blind in congested airspace."

The National Transportation Safety Board initially said the House bill fell short of addressing its 50 recommendations following the crash, including equipping all aircraft with technology to receive precise location information from other planes. House lawmakers amended the legislation, which now requires the Department of Transportation, Department of Defense and Federal Aviation Administration to take specific actions that the NTSB said would address its recommendations when completed. The bill also addresses helicopter route safety and separation requirements, which the board determined to be the probable cause of the 2025 collision, while improving air traffic control training and processes.