Two hours after approving legislation that aviation experts warned would increase the risk of midair collisions between military and commercial aircraft, the Senate passed a measure on Wednesday to reverse course and replace it with comprehensive restrictions.
By unanimous consent, the Senate voted to fast-track passage of a bipartisan bill requiring military aircraft to use technology to broadcast their location when flying near busy airports, with limited exceptions. The measure would also nullify a provision of the defense bill that loosens existing restrictions on when the military can fly without the enhanced tracking technology.
The flurry of activity comes nearly a year after an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided with a commercial jet near Ronald Reagan National Airport just outside Washington, killing 67. The Black Hawk had its enhanced tracking technology turned off as it crossed the flight path of commercial planes seeking to land at the airport.
Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas and the chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, who wrote the more comprehensive air safety bill and pushed for its swift passage on Wednesday, called it “a fitting way to honor the lives of those lost nearly one year ago over the Potomac River.”
Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington, the top Democrat on his panel and co-author of the bipartisan legislation, called the move “a major step forward for aviation safety.”
But it is unclear when the House might take up the legislation.
The dispute that inspired Wednesday’s legislative scramble centers on when military helicopters ought to be required to broadcast their locations to nearby aircraft in congested airspace — and who gets to decide when to waive those requirements. The military’s use of enhanced tracking technology has become a focal point for investigators scrutinizing the Jan. 29 collision, who are expected to release their findings and recommendations next month.
After the accident, the government ordered military aircraft flying in the vicinity of Reagan National Airport to have location technology turned on, virtually all the time. But this summer, the House Armed Services Committee added language to its version of the annual defense policy bill allowing military pilots to turn off the technology at the discretion of the secretaries of each branch of the services. Senators and aviation experts took little notice, until it appeared in the final, compromise version of the legislation that both chambers’ armed services panels released last week.
Since then, leading aviation safety experts have warned that the defense bill’s provisions would undercut restrictions that had been imposed since the accident, potentially making air travel less safe than it had been before Jan. 29.
Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees defended the defense bill as written as “critical first steps” toward improving air travel safety.
But on Wednesday, Senate leaders, White House officials and even the Pentagon signaled they backed Mr. Cruz’s efforts to nullify the contested provision of the defense bill, and replace it with more comprehensive restrictions to improve air safety.
“The department supports this legislation,” Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement. He added that it would be “working towards its ultimate passage.”
The Federal Aviation Administration has also signaled its support for the legislation. “Any additional situational awareness in the cockpit is a welcome initiative,” Bryan Bedford, the F.A.A. administrator, told senators during a hearing on Wednesday when asked about the bill.
A spokesman for Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, did not immediately return a request for comment about whether the House planned to follow suit. There has been resistance in the House to adopting Mr. Cruz’s legislation before the National Transportation Safety Board releases its findings from the investigation of the Jan. 29 collision, which it is expected to do next month.
Karoun Demirjian is a breaking news reporter for The Times.
The post Senate Passes Air Safety Measure, Reversing Provision in Defense Bill appeared first on New York Times.
