NTSB warns protection invoice may undermine aviation security at DCA : NPR

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/8547x5698+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F50%2F97%2Fd0a9d6e74cd9b9348ed7051a979d%2Fgettyimages-2227159915.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/8547x5698+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F50%2F97%2Fd0a9d6e74cd9b9348ed7051a979d%2Fgettyimages-2227159915.jpg" class="img" alt="Chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Jennifer Homendy speaks to members of the Federal Aviation Administration before the second day of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Midair Collision Investigative Hearing on July 31, 2025 in Washington, DC. The three-day investigative hearing examines the Jan. 29 mid-air collision between an American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River that claimed the lives of 67 people. " fetchpriority="high"/> Nationwide Transportation Security Board chairwoman Jennifer Homendy gave a powerful rebuke of a protection authorization invoice that rolls again security enhancements. The board really helpful the modifications after the January collision of a army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airways regional jet close to Ronald Reagan Washington Nationwide Airport, killing 67 individuals. Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Photos disguise caption

toggle caption

Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Photos WASHINGTON — In an unusually harsh rebuke, the nation's prime security investigator voiced issues a couple of provision within the protection coverage invoice earlier than Congress on Wednesday, warning that it might undermine aviation security enhancements made after a lethal mid-air collision in January.

"It is a security whitewash," Nationwide Security Transportation Board chair Jennifer Homendy informed reporters. "If it seems like I am mad, I'm mad. That is shameful."

Homendy mentioned the NTSB "vehemently" opposes a bit within the huge Nationwide Protection Authorization Act that may roll again security enhancements that had been really helpful by the company after the collision of a army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airways regional jet close to Ronald Reagan Washington Nationwide Airport, killing 67 individuals.

After the crash, the Protection Division agreed to require army plane to broadcast their place utilizing a know-how often called ADS-B. However the NTSB warns the invoice's language would create exemptions to the coverage — in impact, recreating circumstances that had been in place on the time of the DCA collision, which was the nation's deadliest aviation catastrophe in additional than 20 years.

"We ought to be working collectively in partnership to forestall the subsequent accident, not inviting historical past to repeat itself by recreating the identical circumstances that had been in place on January twenty ninth," Homendy mentioned.

Homendy laid out the NTSB's issues in a letter to the chairman and rating member of each the Home Armed Companies Committees and the Senate Committee on Armed Companies. She mentioned no legislators had approached her throughout the drafting of the NDAA, and he or she didn't know who added the availability in query.

The committee leaders didn't instantly reply to NPR's request for remark.

However some lawmakers on Capitol Hill share the NTSB's issues.

"As drafted, the NDAA protects the established order, permitting army plane to maintain flying in DC airspace below totally different guidelines and with outdated transmission necessities," mentioned a joint assertion from Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Jerry Moran (R-Kans.) and Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Unwell.), the leaders of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. "This comes as Pentagon knowledge exhibits a spike in army plane accidents since 2020. The households of the victims deserve accountability."

The senators urged their colleagues in Congress to as an alternative undertake the bipartisan ROTOR Act, which might require plane operators to equip their fleets with ADS-B know-how and restrict exemptions for army helicopters.

Relations of the victims of American Airways Flight 5342 additionally expressed concern in regards to the language within the NDAA.

"The flying public and all those who make the most of our airspace deserve higher than what this invoice gives," mentioned Tim and Sheri Lilley, whose son, Sam, was the primary officer of Flight 5342, in a press release. "Congress now has a selection: strengthen this provision and defend the touring public or depart in place the identical vulnerabilities which have already price too many individuals their lives."