Rep. Subramanyam Statement on House Passage of the ALERT Act

WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Representative Suhas Subramanyam (VA-10) delivered the following remarks about the Airspace Location and Enhanced Risk Transparency (ALERT) Act before it passed the House:

"A big reason why we are here is that on January 29, 2025, a U.S. Army Black Hawk Helicopter and American Airlines Flight 5342 collided in midair outside DCA.

67 lives were lost, many of them parents and children in my community in Northern Virginia. After the crash, many of us said we would do all we can to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.

The ALERT Act is part of the solution.

The bill addresses all 50 of the safety recommendations by the NTSB's following their investigation into this crash. We need to address them all because it wasn't just one issue that led to this tragedy. It was a combination of systemic problems that made our national airspace unsafe.

But I want to stress that there is more work to do.

First, we must ensure there are no delays in implementing collision-prevention technology for every type of aircraft. We must also ensure that exemptions from new safety requirements are granted only when absolutely necessary. Finally, the ROTOR Act is a big part of the solution. It passed the Senate resoundingly and has the support of the families.

We must restore trust in our airspaces and make sure nothing like this happens again.

I really want to thank the families and loved ones of Flight 5342. Without their advocacy and their persistence, neither the ALERT Act, nor the ROTOR Act, would have made it this far.

I look forward to continuing to work with the families and my colleagues to get this legislation across the finish line."

Rep. Subramanyam is a co-sponsor of the ALERT Act.

The ALERT Act is a bipartisan legislative response to the aviation safety issues raised after the 2025 midair collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 and a UH-60 Army Black Hawk helicopter at DCA.