Cruz, Cantwell Joint Statement on ALERT Act Markups

"The ADS-B In standard in the ROTOR Act will save lives.

"Even before the Senate unanimously passed the ROTOR Act in December, the Commerce Committee was ready and willing to engage with our House colleagues on aviation safety legislation. The ALERT Act, while ambitious in its goals, falls short on a strong and clear requirement for common-sense situational awareness technology recommended by the NTSB 18 times. That's why the ROTOR Act is supported by a bipartisan majority of the House of Representatives, the Senate, the NTSB, safety experts, major pilots unions, and the families of those lost in the midair collision at DCA. And yet today, when the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee had the opportunity to vote on an amendment to mandate a strong ADSB-In requirement, they refused to take the vote.

"Any legislation that is expected to pass both the House and the 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 the Flight 5342-PAT 25 collision never happens again."

Background

The ROTOR Act enacts a long-standing recommendation from the NTSB: that all aircraft required to broadcast their locations via ADS-B Out should receive those same signals in the cockpit. This capability, known as "ADS-B In," is already widely used by many general aviation pilots but not currently mandated. The latest push to expand ADS-B In comes one year after the 2025 midair collision near Reagan National Airport between an American Airlines flight and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter that killed 67 people.

The ROTOR Act passed the Senate by unanimous consent in December and was just shy of one vote (264-133) in the House of Representatives to achieve the two-thirds vote necessary that would have sent the bipartisan ROTOR Act to the President's desk.

The Air Line Pilots Association, labor organizations, and the Families of Flight 5342 have released statements highlighting that the ALERT Act, as it currently stands, falls short of comprehensive traffic awareness, alerting, and collision avoidance. The families stated, "A clear ADS-B In mandate that fully meets the NTSB's own recommendations must be part of any bill that becomes law."

To view the Air Line Pilots Association statement, click HERE.

To view the Families of Flight 5342 statement, click HERE.

To view a statement from multiple labor organizations, click HERE.

To view a full list of supporters of the ROTOR Act, click HERE,

### <_o3a_p>

<_o3a_p>

<_o3a_p>