NW Kansas News

U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), chairman of the Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation, Space, and Innovation, issued a statement following the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) three-day investigative hearing into the January 29 midair collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). The crash involved American Airlines flight 5342 and an Army Blackhawk helicopter and resulted in 67 fatalities.

“Six months after the tragic crash near DCA, the NTSB laid out a series of failures it has uncovered so far in its investigation of the tragedy that claimed 67 lives, including Kansans. While there is no single factor that led to the crash on January 29, it is alarming that FAA failed to act on years of data and near misses indicating serious problems with the design of the mixed airspace around DCA. The FAA blamed their inaction on bureaucracy but did not take action to try and alleviate the bureaucratic roadblocks within the agency. That is no excuse.

“The NTSB uncovered long-term staffing issues at the control tower that were compounded by a culture of distrust among DCA air traffic controllers and a toleration for unacceptable risks; found inaccurate altitude readings on the helicopter; and discovered the ADS-B Out technology was not transmitting on the Blackhawk likely due to faulty equipment that the Army failed to identify and has now been found to be an issue on numerous other Army helicopters as well.

“I commend Chair Homendy on her thorough investigation into this crash and her dedication in bringing to light the failures in our airspace. Despite numerous warnings signs of serious problems over the last several years, little was done to try and correct them, and these failures by the FAA, the Army and air traffic control cost 67 lives. I know the last few days have been painful for the families of the victims, and I assure them that Congress will not let these failures go unanswered. We cannot undo the tragic loss of life, but we can work to make certain it never happens again.”

Senator Moran has taken several actions since January related to aviation safety at DCA. He called for restrictions on non-essential helicopter operations near DCA alongside Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) in February. In March, he pressed Army officials about their role in relation to this incident with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), followed by questioning Federal Aviation Administration officials about their response—or lack thereof—to aggregated near-miss data during a Senate Commerce hearing in May.

Moran also introduced legislation requiring all aircraft operating in high-volume airspace to use ADS-B technology—a system designed for tracking aircraft locations—following concerns raised about its absence or malfunctioning during recent incidents involving military helicopters.

In June, senators requested audits into how both Department of Transportation and Army responded after this midair collision. Additional briefings addressed further near collisions between military helicopters and commercial planes occurring after January’s event.

Most recently, Moran joined colleagues introducing legislation known as ROTOR Act aimed at mandating location technology use across high-volume airspace while initiating reviews into flight routes around Washington DC as well as audits focused specifically on Army aviation practices.