U.S. Senate Committee Advances Aviation Safety Bill After Fatal Collisions

The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee on Tuesday unanimously approved an aviation safety bill, following renewed calls for reform after a deadly collision in January involving an American Airlines jet, a regional aircraft, and a U.S. Army helicopter that killed 67 people.

Under the proposed legislation, aircraft operators will be required to install Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B) technology — an advanced aircraft-tracking system — and implement other key safety upgrades by the end of 2031. The bill also calls for tighter monitoring of flight routes and mixed air traffic between jets and helicopters near commercial airports. The Army Black Hawk involved in the fatal crash was not using ADS-B at the time.

Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz said the legislation “addresses a dangerous gap that allowed military aircraft to operate in U.S. airspace without the same level of positional awareness and visibility that commercial pilots rely on.”

The bill mandates that military helicopters operating near civilian planes must use ADS-B, and it expands the requirement to all civilian aircraft as well.

ADS-B, or Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast, is an advanced surveillance system that transmits an aircraft’s precise location to air traffic controllers and nearby planes, helping prevent midair collisions.

Lawmakers from both parties, along with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, have questioned why the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) failed for years to address near-miss incidents involving military helicopters near Washington’s Reagan National Airport.