ALERT Act

Spurred by the January 29, 2025 midair collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport that killed all 67 people aboard an American Airlines regional jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter, the ALERT Act orders a broad set of aviation-safety changes for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), civil aircraft operators, and the Department of Defense (DOD). The FAA would have to write rules requiring airliners and other large aircraft to carry upgraded onboard collision-avoidance systems (ACAS Xa), require non-military helicopters and powered-lift aircraft operating in busy Class B airspace to carry a rotorcraft version (ACAS Xr), and require most aircraft that already broadcast their position (ADS-B Out) to also receive and display nearby traffic with audible alerts (ADS-B In) — with most equipment deadlines set for December 31, 2031. Around Reagan National specifically, the bill closes Helicopter Route 4 (the route the Army helicopter was flying), revises and vertically separates other helicopter routes, re-times and caps the airport's arrival rate so it does not exceed safe capacity, and sets time-on-position limits for tower supervisors. It adds new air traffic controller training on threat-and-error management and visual separation, a safety risk assessment tool, an anti-blocking radio technology study, and faster post-accident drug and alcohol testing. The DOD and Department of Transportation must sign a memorandum of agreement by September 30, 2026 making ADS-B Out the default for military helicopters in the national airspace, generally barring DOD helicopters from flying in the National Capital Region without transmitting ADS-B Out unless they are on a special mission that has passed a safety risk assessment, and equipping most DOD aircraft with collision-prevention technology by December 31, 2031. The bill creates a new chapter of military law (10 U.S.C. chapter 158) covering rotary-wing safety management systems, congested-airspace training, flight-data monitoring, barometric-altimeter guidance, and transponder checks at least every 90 days, while repealing an older 2019 provision and the 2024 DOD-FAA memorandum it replaces. It also builds in heavy transparency and oversight: a public DOT dashboard tracking each rulemaking, briefings to Congress and to victims' families every 180 days, a DOT Inspector General audit of the FAA's safety culture, public reporting of near-miss and close-proximity events, and a requirement that the Army hand its command investigation of the crash to the Armed Services Committees. Separately, it restricts use of aircraft ADS-B tracking data: the data may not be used by anyone to identify an aircraft in order to charge its owner revenue without consent, and the existing bar on the FAA sharing identifying ADS-B data is extended to all Federal, State, local, territorial, and Tribal officials.