Eyes Turn to Alert Act after Rotor Act Fails in House

The U.S. House of Representatives is turning its attention to the Airspace Location and Enhanced Risk Transparency (Alert) Act of 2026 (H.R. 7613) after a Senate aviation safety bill, the Rotorcraft Operations Transparency and Oversight Reform (Rotor) Act, failed to garner enough votes on Tuesday. After it passed the Senate in December, the Rotor Act (S.2503) was brought to the House floor under suspension of the rules, apparently through an agreement between Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and House speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana). This meant it was not open to amendment, and it required two-thirds approval. However, the act failed with 264 votes in favor.

Both the Rotor Act and Alert Act are designed to address safety issues surrounding the Jan. 29, 2025 midair collision between a PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 and a U.S. Army Black Hawk at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which killed all 67 aboard. While they both have received support from many industry groups, there are some key differences between the two, notably the Rotor Act’s mandate for ADS-B In for all aircraft.

Ahead of yesterday’s vote, Washington groups engaged in an intense lobbying campaign, drawing support from many of the aviation unions, from those representing pilots to air traffic controllers and the machinists. In addition, the Rotor Act has the strong backing of NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy.

However, the U.S. military reportedly voiced objections, as did House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee chair Sam Graves (R-Missouri), who said, “It’s my deeply rooted respect for the NTSB’s investigations and processes that has led me to believe S.2503 does not sufficiently or properly address the findings and recommendations of the board.” He added that the Rotor Act focuses on a mandate “that can prove burdensome to some operators.”

After the unsuccessful vote, both Graves and his Democrat counterpart on T&I, Rick Larsen (D-Washington), released a joint statement: “We remain committed to working with the victims’ families and the aviation community as we move the Alert Act forward, comprehensively address all 50 NTSB recommendations in response to the tragic midair collision at DCA, and expeditiously consider the bill in our committee. From the beginning, we have stressed the importance of getting this right, and we are confident that we will achieve that goal.”

However, in a post on X, Homendy stated, “The Rotor Act would’ve saved lives; unlike claims that this is ‘emotional legislation,’ the FAA had over two decades to act and failed to do so. Had they acted, we wouldn’t be here today; families would have their loved ones. How many more people need to die before we act?”

She further charged that the Alert Act, in its current form, “does not implement our most critical safety recommendations. It doesn’t; in fact, it provides exemptions to lifesaving technology, technology that provides pilots and flight crews with information they need and deserve to ensure safety, technology that would’ve saved lives that night.”

Meanwhile, business and general aviation groups are continuing to work with Capitol Hill as it works to pass a bill addressing the NTSB recommendations stemming from the accident. AOPA senior v-p of government affairs and advocacy Jim Coon said, “AOPA remains committed to advancing meaningful aviation safety reforms following last year’s tragic accident in Washington, D.C. The aviation community has been unified in supporting legislation that addresses the NTSB’s recommendations and strengthens the safety of our National Airspace System.”

But Coon said that, while AOPA continues to work with Congress to address aircraft collision avoidance technologies, “Congress must also address the misuse of ADS-B data by passing the Pilot and Aircraft Privacy Act to prohibit the use of ADS-B collision avoidance technology to collect fees from pilots.”

NATA president and CEO Curt Castagna praised the bipartisanship on the issue and said, “We look forward to continued collaboration as they finalize aviation safety legislation. Safety is the bedrock of our American aviation system, and NATA applauds their efforts to prevent such a tragedy from occurring again.”