NTSB, Senators Blast ‘Shameful’ Defense Bill For Relaxing Military Flight Restrictions in Capital Airspace

The head of the National Transportation Safety Board, a bipartisan group of senators, and the families of the victims of a midair collision over the Potomac River are blasting a provision in the new defense funding bill that removes protections meant to prevent a similar accident in futureThe chairwoman of the NTSB says her agency was never consulted about the language in the National Defense Authorization Act that would allow military aircraft to resume low-altitude flights in the Washington, D.C., airspace where positioning and communication systems cannot be used.The lack of those systems may have been a factor in the January collision involving an Army Black Hawk Helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet that killed 67 people.“This is shameful,” Jennifer Homendy, said at the agency’s headquarters on Wednesday. She said her agency normally does not comment on pending legislation, but, “This is not right.”“It does not in any way enhance safety, in fact, it reverses safety changes made after the midair collision,” Ms. Homendy said.The legislation would restore the military’s authority to conduct military flights in the capital area without the aircraft being able to broadcast their position if the secretary of any military department issues a waiver.Ms. Homendy says it “essentially gives the military unfettered access to the crowded and complex D.C. airspace.”“This is a significant, significant safety setback,” Ms. Hommeny said. “It represents an unacceptable risk to the flying public, to commercial and military aircraft, crews and to the residents in the region.”Senators Tammy Duckworth, Ted Cruz, Maria Cantwell, and Jerry Moran issued a joint statement criticizing the provision “widening a loophole for military helicopters that threatens the safety of the flying public.”Mr. Cruz introduced a bill in July called the Rotorcraft Operations Transparency and Oversight Reform Act — or ROTOR Act — that would require all aircraft to be equipped with technology to broadcast their positions. The bill advanced out of committee in October but the requirement didn’t make it into the defense funding bill.Families of the January crash victims issued a statement saying they had united over the past year “to push for meaningful aviation safety reforms so that no other families suffer the same devastating loss.”“While we appreciate congressional attention to rotary-wing operations in the National Defense Authorization Act, Section 373 does not resolve the visibility and coordination failures that contributed to the tragedy,” said the group, known as Families of Flight 5342. “As written, it leaves the status quo largely unchanged.”The House passed the bill Wednesday evening in a 312-112 vote and it now is in front of the Senate.“The flying public and all those that utilize our airspace deserve better than what this bill provides,” the parents of the first officer on Flight 5342, Tim and Sherif Lilley, said in a statement.

NTSB, Senators Blast ‘Shameful’ Defense Bill For Relaxing Military Flight Restrictions in Capital Airspace

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