Pass the ALERT Act to prevent future air tragedies
by U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash. · The Washington TimesOPINION:
Last year, the United States experienced its deadliest aviation accident in 25 years when American Airlines Flight 5342, on its way from Wichita to Washington National Airport (DCA), collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter flying a routine training mission — resulting in 67 tragic deaths.
What the families and loved ones of those lost in this tragedy have gone through is unimaginable, and my deepest condolences remain with them.
Congress owes it to these families and to the flying public to pass an aviation safety bill that prevents future crashes.
That’s why House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves, R-Mo., and I — alongside House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., and Ranking Member Adam Smith, D-Wash., — introduced the Airspace Location and Enhanced Risk Transparency (ALERT) Act.
My House colleagues and I waited for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to complete its thorough investigation — determining the probable cause of the incident and identifying every factor at play — so we could address all the safety failures leading to this horrific crash.
This patience proved to be prudent.
After a year of investigating, the NTSB released its final report in February, which offered the Departments of Transportation and Defense 50 new safety recommendations to prevent future safety incidents.
Enter: the ALERT Act.
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This bipartisan, bi-committee bill addresses all 50 of the NTSB’s safety recommendations to protect travelers. At the center of the ALERT Act is its requirement for nearly all aircraft to be equipped with ADS-B In, a GPS-like surveillance technology that, when combined with other applications, can give pilots real-time traffic and weather data directly in the cockpit. By mandating that technology, aircraft will be able to detect when other planes or helicopters are too close and adjust their routes to avoid collisions.
While ADS-B In technology has been a focal point of the lawmaking conversation, it’s just one piece of the safety puzzle. Importantly, the ALERT Act also makes changes to improve the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) safety culture — such as improving flight data sharing between it and the Department of Defense. The bill also supports air traffic controllers by preventing excessive air traffic management on-duty hours, requiring training to help controllers better respond to unexpected threats and errors and developing a tool to improve controllers’ ability to address safety risks. And by permanently closing Helicopter Route 4 near DCA, the ALERT Act ensures that the flight path from the devastating DCA midair collision will never be flown again.
The final version of ALERT incorporates critical feedback from key aviation stakeholders — including NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy — to ensure it is truly comprehensive and implements all the NTSB’s recommendations. Thanks to the aviation community’s input and the tireless advocacy of the victims’ families, we got our bill to the right place.
As a result, the ALERT Act recently passed on the House floor with overwhelming bipartisan support and just 10 “no” votes. That’s the result of a deliberative, transparent, collaborative process — something we try to make a habit of at the T&I Committee.
Congress cannot wait any longer to act on safety. That is why I am committed to working with my Senate colleagues to get a final comprehensive aviation safety bill to the President’s desk as soon as possible.
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• Rep. Rick Larsen has been serving as Ranking Member of the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure since the 118th Congress and has served on the Committee since arriving in the House in 2001. The Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure, the largest Committee in Congress by membership, has broad jurisdiction over the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. Coast Guard, Amtrak, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the General Services Administration, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Economic Development Administration and other agencies.