ALERT Act Pushes Past the House Subcommittee, Senate Commerce Committee Leaders Say It Falls Short and Support the ROTOR Act
Following the release of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) findings after the January 29, 2025, midair collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 and a United States Army Black Hawk helicopter on approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), Congress is poised to enact new aviation safety requirements.
The Senate prefers the Rotorcraft Operations Transparency and Oversight Reform Act (ROTOR Act) while the House subcommittee voted on a broader alternative, the Airspace Location and Enhanced Risk Transparency Act (ALERT Act).
The bills take different approaches, but both would expand collision-avoidance and traffic-awareness requirements and close exemptions that have permitted certain military aircraft to operate near airports without broadcasting their locations. The two bills reflect a tension in legislative responses to aviation incidents:
- Implement the most urgent safety measures as quickly as possible
- Explore a comprehensive package to address the full scope of the problem
What is the ALERT Act?
On March 26, 2026, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee unanimously approved its portion of the Airspace Location and Enhanced Risk Transparency (ALERT) Act of 2026 (H.R. 7613) introduced in response to various aviation safety issues raised by the 2025 midair collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 and a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA).
The legislation was passed by the subcommittee with a vote of 62 to 0. The Bill was first introduced in February 2026 following the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) investigation of the accident. The legislation includes improvements that respond to the scope of the safety issues raised after the release of the NTSB’s investigation.
“The ALERT Act is a comprehensive package that addresses the probable cause and contributing factors of the tragic crash that occurred in our nation’s capital in 2025, and it addresses all 50 safety recommendations issued by the NTSB following their investigation,” said Chairman Sam Graves.
Key provisions of the ALERT Act include:
- Improve safety throughout the nation’s airspace for every user of the airspace and the flying public
- Technology to enhance flight crew alerting and air traffic controller situational awareness
- Commercial airliners will upgrade to ACAS (Airborne Collision Avoidance System Xa), the next generation of collision avoidance technology
- Updates to helicopter route safety and separation requirements
- Air traffic control training, processes, and procedures to ensure safety
Various aviation stakeholder groups are supporting the text of the Bill, including the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA), which stated the bill strengthens safety, improves transparency, and reinforces the shared commitment to protecting the flying public and the professionals who maintain our nation’s aircraft.
First Officer Nick Silva, president of the Allied Pilots Association, on behalf of 16,000 pilots of American Airlines, stated the inclusion of labor’s voice ensures the bill is not just a policy document, but a practical tool that supports aviation professionals in their daily mission.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association stated the legislation will enhance aviation safety for commercial aviation, general aviation, and military aircraft, as well as the flying public and citizens on the ground.
The House Armed Services Committee and Department of Defense reversed their position on the ROTOR Act in February 2026. Sean Parnell, Pentagon Spokesperson, stated that the bill “would create significant unresolved budgetary burdens and operational security risks affecting national defense activities.” House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers characterized the ROTOR Act as “a flawed response” that would give the FAA authority over which military aircraft must carry ADS-B equipment and when it must be activated—broadcasting location data.
What is the ROTOR Act?
The Senate passed the ROTOR Act unanimously in December 2025. While many appreciate the Committee’s work on the ALERT act, they state the legislation fails to require a comprehensive traffic awareness, traffic alerting, and collision avoidance system that expands pilots’ situational awareness and provides earlier traffic alerting, which is enabled by a full ADS-B In suite of technology. Specifically, the bill only requires ADS-B In on all aircraft currently required to have ADS-B Out by the end of 2031, but requires commercial airliners to skip straight to the next-generation airborne collision avoidance system (ACAS) XA that uses ADS-B In data.
The ROTOR Act addresses a straightforward problem: pilots can’t avoid what they can’t see. Even with recent amendments to the ALERT Act, Senate Commerce Committee leaders on both sides of the aisle still object to the legislation, stating it falls short on strong and clear requirements for common-sense situational awareness technology recommended by the NTSB 18 times…” Any legislation that is expected to pass both the House and Senate will have to apply the strongest ADS-B In safety standards to all aircraft, civil and military, ensure accountability to broadcast ADS-B Out, and reform airspace rules to ensure an accident like Flight 5342-PAT 25 collision never happens again.”
According to the NTSB, had both aircraft been properly equipped with ADS-B In, the airline crew would have received a traffic alert roughly one minute before the collision—rather than the approximately one second of awareness they ultimately had.
Ted Cruz (R-Texas), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation along with Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), released a joint statement highlighting limited safety reforms in the text of the current bill.
The Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) press release on March 26, 2026, states the ALERT Act does not properly require the life-saving technology of ADS-B In suite, which is specially designed to:
- Improve the pilot’s situation awareness
- Provide early alerts to assist in preventing mid-air collisions
- Provide a flight deck display of traffic information to alert pilots
- Provide directional alerts for pilots with symbols and aural alerts of clock position, relative altitude, range, and vertical tendency
The families of Flight 5342 made a post on X, acknowledging that the ALERT Act has made progress, yet fully supporting the ADS-B In implementation right away with a statutory mandate and enforceable deadlines that require the FAA to act. “Any safety requirement that routes implementation through negotiated process, administrative discretion, or multi-step rule-making creates opportunities for delay that cost lives.” In the statement, they seek to set clear statutory timelines and performance standards that leave no room for process to become an obstacle. View the statement.
Labor organizations, including ALPA, the American Federation of Labor (AFL-CIO), the Internation Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), and the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU) have stated they cannot support the ALERT Act in its current form as it fails to implement the strongest possible pro-safety requirements. “All commercial aircraft operators must equip their fleets with integrated Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast In (ADS-B In),” stating the ALERT Act prioritizes a separate technology called ACAS-Xa, which does not provide sufficient alerts. The system is suppressed at low altitudes and in the airport environment, it does not include critical features for early alerting and directional traffic symbols, rate of climb, or offer the visual and aural alerts indicating clock position and relative altitude, which would allow pilots to take evasive action. The ACAS-Xa system would not have prevented the PSA Flight 5342 Crash. View the statement.
Next Steps
Regardless of which bill proceeds forward, new requirements are proposed for the aviation industry: adding ADS-B In equipage for aircraft operating near airports; upgrades or replacement of existing collision-avoidance systems; revising airspace procedures where helicopter and other air traffic mix; and eliminating military exemptions from location-broadcasting rules in the Washington, DC region.
