HR7613-119

What This Bill Does

The ALERT Act is an aviation-safety response to the January 29, 2025 collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport involving U.S. Army Priority Air Transport 25 and American Airlines flight 5342. The bill's findings cite 67 deaths, NTSB findings on the FAA's helicopter-route placement near a runway approach path, overreliance on visual separation, DCA tower workload, Army altimeter-awareness failures, limited traffic-alerting systems, strained DCA arrival rates, incomplete Army rotary-wing safety management, and missing data-sharing and analysis. On the FAA side, the bill requires evaluation and rulemaking around ACAS-Xa inhibit altitudes, ACAS-Xa equipage for selected aircraft, rotorcraft collision-avoidance standards, collision-prevention technology for covered aircraft, rulemaking dashboards, time-on-position limits, controller threat-and-error training, visual-separation training, safety-risk assessment tools, DCA arrival-rate assessments, time-based flow management at Potomac TRACON, reviews of air traffic control facility levels, shared-frequency working groups, anti-blocking technology, conflict-alert improvements, postaccident drug and alcohol testing procedures, helicopter-route reviews, vertical separation near airports during critical phases of flight, visual chart studies, close-proximity encounter definitions and reporting, safety-culture audits, control-position documentation, miles-in-trail reviews, and closure of a segment of Helicopter Route 4. On the defense side, it creates a new title 10 aviation safety chapter requiring a DOT-DOD memorandum of agreement, ADS-B Out default practices for DOD manned rotary wing aircraft in the national airspace system, risk assessments for special missions, manned rotary-wing safety management systems, flight-crew training for highly congested airspace, flight-data monitoring standards, barometric-altimeter guidance, transponder maintenance intervals, near-miss reports in the National Capital Region, annual reports on special-mission exclusions, communications-degradation reports, proficiency-flight reports, virtual constructive training briefings, and transparency on the January 29 collision.

Who Benefits and How

Airline passengers and flight crews benefit from stronger collision-alerting requirements, DCA arrival-rate review, route restrictions, controller training, and better close-proximity encounter reporting. Air traffic controllers benefit from tools that address conflict alerts, anti-blocking alerts, safety-risk assessment, time-on-position practices, miles-in-trail procedures, control-position documentation, and threat-and-error management training. FAA aviation safety staff benefit from clearer statutory direction and dashboards for the ACAS-Xa, rotorcraft, and collision-prevention rulemakings. Avionics manufacturers benefit from new demand for ACAS-Xa, ADS-B In, collision-prevention technology, anti-blocking technology, and conflict-alert improvements. DOD rotary wing crews benefit from safety management systems, flight-data monitoring, barometric-altimeter guidance, transponder maintenance standards, and required training for highly congested airspace. DCA-area communities and National Capital Region airspace users benefit from helicopter-route changes, Helicopter Route 4 closure, near-miss reporting, and coordination between FAA and DOD. Families of the Flight 5342 and PAT25 victims benefit from transparency provisions and congressional commitment to act on the NTSB recommendations.

Who Bears the Burden and How

FAA aviation safety staff must run rulemaking committees, negotiated rulemakings, studies, working groups, dashboards, safety-risk tools, route reviews, data analyses, and procedure revisions on tight statutory timelines. Air carriers, rotorcraft operators, selected aircraft operators, covered aircraft operators, avionics manufacturers, pilots, and supplemental type certificate holders must participate in rulemaking processes and may face future equipage, retrofit, training, and operational requirements. Air traffic control facilities around DCA, including the DCA tower and Potomac TRACON, must absorb operational assessments, time-based flow management, facility-level reviews, documentation changes, route and vertical-separation changes, and safety-culture scrutiny. The Secretary of Defense, military departments, DOD rotary-wing units, and DOD special-mission operators must implement aviation safety management systems, ADS-B Out policies, risk assessments, training, flight-data monitoring, barometric-altimeter guidance, transponder maintenance, near-miss reporting, special-mission reports, and Congress-facing transparency. The DOT Inspector General must audit FAA Air Traffic Organization safety culture and safety management.

Key Provisions

• Requires FAA evaluation and rulemaking on ACAS-Xa inhibit altitudes, selected-aircraft ACAS-Xa equipage, rotorcraft standards, and collision-prevention technology.
• Prohibits ADS-B data from being used to identify aircraft for revenue collection from owners or operators.
• Requires DOT rulemaking dashboards for major collision-avoidance rulemakings.
• Directs FAA action on controller time-on-position limits, threat-and-error management training, visual-separation training, safety-risk assessment tools, DCA arrival rates, Potomac TRACON time-based flow management, and facility-level reviews.
• Requires working groups or task forces on DCA shared frequencies, anti-blocking technology, conflict-alert systems, close-proximity encounter definitions, and close-proximity encounter reporting.
• Requires helicopter-route reviews, vertical separation near airports, visual chart studies, control-position documentation, miles-in-trail review, and closure of the Hains Point to Woodrow Wilson Bridge segment of Helicopter Route 4.
• Requires a DOT Inspector General audit of FAA Air Traffic Organization safety culture and safety management.
• Creates title 10 aviation-safety requirements for a DOT-DOD memorandum of agreement, DOD ADS-B Out practices, special-mission risk assessments, DOD rotary-wing safety management, high-congestion airspace training, flight-data monitoring, barometric-altimeter guidance, and transponder maintenance.
• Requires DOD near-miss reports, special-mission exclusion reports, communications-degradation reports, proficiency-flight reports, virtual constructive training briefings, and transparency on the January 29, 2025 collision near DCA.