Two House committees voted unanimously on Thursday to approve a new version of aviation safety legislation intended to respond to the January 2025 fatal midair collision between a commercial airliner and a military helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee voted 62-0 in favor of an amended bill from Chairman Sam Graves, R-Mo. At the same time, the House Armed Services approved, 53-0, provisions addressing Pentagon operations. The new text coming out of both committees will be merged during the House Rules Committee markup on the legislation before it goes to the floor, the committee’s ranking member Rick Larsen, D-Wash., said during that panel’s markup.
The bill, known as the ALERT Act, is the House’s response to the National Transportation Safety Board’s final report on the crash, in which an American Airlines regional passenger jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided near Reagan airport, killing all 67 people on both aircraft. The NTSB report, made public Jan. 29, included 50 recommendations to improve air safety.
