FAA Progressing on NTSB KDCA Recommendations, but Much To Do

The FAA is making progress on the nearly three-dozen recommendations the NTSB directed toward it in the aftermath of the Jan. 29, 2025 midair by Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (KDCA), but whether its approach to many of them will be acceptable to the Safety Board remains to be seen, FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford informed Congress yesterday.

Bedford appeared before the Senate aviation subcommittee to delve into FAA actions in the aftermath of the collision of a PSA Airlines CRJ700 and a U.S. Army Black Hawk that killed 67. “We can do better,” Bedford conceded, in areas from aircraft traffic management to coordination. He said the FAA and Department of Transportation are committed to addressing the issues involved.

“The NTSB’s final report confirms that our airspace system was providing warning signals prior to that tragic evening. The issue was not a lack of data—it was a failure to translate that data into action. That is the gap we are urgently closing,” he said, and cited numerous actions already in motion.

These include reorganization and a measurable “Flight Plan” increasing accountability, incorporating an agency-wide safety management system, and expediting efforts to modernize the air traffic control systems. Specific to issues surrounding the accident, the FAA has restricted helicopter operations in the North Capital Region, eliminated mixed traffic procedures deemed “high risk,” and closed certain routes that increase operational complexity. It has further reduced the arrival rate and daily operations at KDCA and eliminated nonessential military helicopter operations.

However, one of the key steps that Bedford emphasized came at the end of March, when the agency suspended the use of visual separation between helicopters and aircraft in Class B, Class C, and terminal radar service area airspace. A temporary measure under a general notice that the FAA intends to make permanent, the change requires controllers to use radar-based, positive separation standards with defined lateral and vertical distances between aircraft.

“This is not merely a procedural adjustment. It is a fundamental change in how we manage traffic separation in complex airspace,” he emphasized, saying the move stemmed from an advanced data analysis. “That analysis revealed that we had a structural reliance on visual separation in environments where it is not sufficient to mitigate airborne risk.”

This was an example that Bedford cited of a step the agency has taken to address NTSB recommendations that he believes goes beyond the intent of the Safety Board’s objective. However, it is an alternative to the actual recommendation for restructuring charts for increased separation.

“I think our general notice to prohibit visual separation…across the national airspace is more effective than charting, but we’ll let the NTSB decide whether they agree with that or not,” Bedford told lawmakers.

When asked about the FAA’s movement on the recommendations, he said that of the 35 specifically addressed to the agency, it has accomplished several and has 19 in progress.  “For example, develop new helicopter routes. We’ve done that. Prohibit helicopter operations on Route 4 [by KDCA], done. Develop risk assessment tools for supervisors, done… the list goes on and on.”

Some will be completed by the end of the year, and some involve technology upgrades at the FAA or larger review panels. Others involve directives from Congress, including the differences over ADS-B In/Airborne Collision Avoidance System X potential mandates in the House Alert Act and Senate Rotor Act. 

“I don’t think we want to spend time going down one pathway and find out legislatively something’s going to be different, but whichever way the legislation works itself out, we’re prepared to move forward,” he said. Bedford also stressed that he believes the industry could move faster through voluntary implementation of advanced ADS-B In technologies that can be uploaded into electronic flight bags.

However, committee members were skeptical of that contention, with Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Washington), the ranking member of the full Senate Commerce Committee, contending that the agency should set a deadline for commercial aviation on such technologies. “We should be telling the military they have to live up to these recommendations,” she said, and questioned whether EFB technology would be enough. “I don’t think we should go with an electronic flight bag.”

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois) further pointed out that the NTSB had only signed off on two of the actions thus far.

Bedford also faced critical questioning about the FAA’s move announced late last week to reduce its full certified professional controller employment targets by 2,000 to 12,563. Duckworth asked how that meets the intent of the NTSB recommendations surrounding minimum staffing and limits on time-on-position.

Bedford explained that the workforce plan evolved based on a requirement in the 2024 reauthorization package to work with the Transportation Research Board (TRB) on staffing models. This directive was intended to resolve a long-standing argument between the FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association on staffing levels (NATCA issued a release expressing surprise at the FAA’s resulting targets). He maintained that both the FAA and NATCA worked on that evaluation and that “we have in fact implemented all of the Transportation Research Board’s recommendations for retooling the model, and the result is 12,600.” 

But he also called that conversation “a bit of a red herring” since the FAA is in a hiring surge, and even with that, the agency would not reach targeted levels. “We need to work together to make sure that we’re getting the controllers on board through training and deployed to facilities, and through that, that will require engagement between the FAA and NATCA to make sure we are most efficiently utilizing the resources that we have and using technology to reduce the strain and the workload on our controllers so that they can safely manage traffic demands,” he added.

Duckworth remained unconvinced. “The FAA’s actions since the crash have given me no confidence that you will focus on the most important aspect of the air traffic control system: its people,” she said. “I will continue to advocate for the workforce because I know that enough well-rested, well-qualified air traffic controllers are what we need to keep the national air traffic system safe.”

When asked if there were any requirements that the FAA disagrees with, Bedford responded: “I don’t think it’s so much a disagreement or I don’t intend. I would call it an alternative means of compliance.”