Duckworth Reacts to House Republicans Defeating Bipartisan ROTOR Act That Could’ve Prevented the DCA Crash  

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator and Ranking Member of the Senate’s Aviation Subcommittee Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today issued the following statement after Speaker Mike Johnson and 131 House Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives voted to defeat the bipartisan Rotorcraft Operations Transparency and Oversight Reform (ROTOR) Act, which already passed the Senate with unanimous support last December and would have implemented critical safety enhancements to prevent deadly tragedies like the horrific DCA crash. Despite passionate support from the Families of Flight 5342 and the Chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)—who called on the House to swiftly pass the ROTOR Act and warned the public that the House alternative, the ALERT Act, failed to implement key NTSB recommendations—House Republican leadership and the Trump Administration joined together at the last minute to narrowly kill this urgently needed and long overdue aviation safety legislation by a mere two votes.

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“The NTSB conducted a thorough investigation into the causes of the horrific DCA crash, and it’s deeply disappointing that the House failed to pass the Senate’s ROTOR Act that would have not only addressed their findings but also could have prevented the horrific DCA crash that took 67 lives.

“Unlike the House’s ALERT Act, the Senate legislation would have codified many of the NTSB’s recommendations and made important progress in improving aviation safety. Within four months of the DCA tragedy, there was literally another near miss involving two commercial passenger jets and an Army UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter at DCA, and within three months of that close call, an Airforce B-52 bomber nearly collided with a Delta regional jet in North Dakota. Any aviation system that depends on the actions of a single individual to save lives is a broken system.

“Failing to advance this legislation to reduce risk and protect lives is a complete failure of leadership. The American people, and most importantly, the Families of Flight 5342, deserve better.”

The ROTOR Act would mandate that military aircraft implement Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B) Out technology, which transmits an aircraft’s exact location with higher accuracy than conventional radar. It also requires all aircraft to have ADS-B In, enhancing pilots' ability to see and avoid collisions with other aircraft and ground vehicles.

Additionally, the bill increases oversight of mixed air traffic and flight routes near commercial airports, mandates quarterly reports on ADS-B Out compliance, annual audits by the Department of Transportation Inspector General and a safety review to identify potential improvements for airspace safety around DCA.

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