Senator urges US House to take new vote on aviation safety bill

WASHINGTON – The top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday urged the House of Representatives to reconsider aviation legislation that failed by one vote after Pentagon opposition.

The House voted 264-133 on Tuesday in favor of the ROTOR Act, which the Senate passed unanimously in December, to address concerns after an American Airlines regional jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided in the crowded airspace over the nation’s capital about a year ago, killing 67 people.

Under the fast-track rules, the bill needed a two-thirds majority to pass — and it fell one vote short.

Senator Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, on Wednesday urged House Speaker Mike Johnson to call a new vote.

Johnson’s office declined to comment on Cantwell’s action but on Tuesday he said congressional leadership was committed to enacting the bill.

Cantwell said House passage was complicated by 26 members not voting, in part because of a major snowstorm.

The act would require the military to use ADS-B, advanced surveillance technology that transmits an aircraft’s location, on routine training flights but not on sensitive military missions.

National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said ADS-B would have prevented the 2025 collision and noted the agency has called for it to be mandated for more than 20 years.

In December, the Pentagon said it supported the legislation, but the Pentagon said Monday the bill could create “significant unresolved budgetary burdens and operational security risks affecting national defense activities.”

House Transportation Committee Chair Sam Graves said on Wednesday that his panel would take up a rival aviation safety bill as soon as next week.

Homendy told Reuters relatives of those killed were meeting with Johnson’s staff on Wednesday to express their frustration that the military’s opposition had killed the bill.

David Shepardson reports for Reuters.