Crafted as a response to the deadly midair collision that occurred over the Potomac River in January 2025, the final version of the Rotor Act included language requested by the Pentagon to make certain the legislation wouldn’t impede its ability to conduct sensitive flight missions without being tracked or being overly costly to implement (“Air-Safety Bill Fails in House After Pentagon Pressure,” U.S. News, Feb. 25).

This legislation had been fought for by the families of the victims of the crash and had been through months of negotiations and edits. The debate centered on the use of real-time tracking technology, known as Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B), which would allow an aircraft to track the location of other aircraft in the near vicinity. The National Transportation Safety Board for years has called for ADS-B to be used in congested airspace. If Flight 5342 and the Army Black Hawk helicopter had been equipped with and using ADS-B, both aircraft would have had nearly a minute’s warning before the collision, offering a chance to save 67 lives.

Days before the House was set to vote on the Rotor Act, House lawmakers offered their own legislation, more lenient to the Defense Department. A day before the House vote on the Rotor Act, the Pentagon reversed course, citing “budgetary burdens and operational security risks.” Both issues were previously addressed in Senate negotiations with the Pentagon. Failure to pass the Rotor Act means another day, week or month that we put at risk the safety of all passengers who fly our skies.

U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.)
Hays, Kan.