A revised version of the House’s aviation safety bill now has the backing of the NTSB, but most of the families of the 67 victims of last year’s midair
FILE - The air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is seen, Feb. 1, 2025, in Arlington, Va., near the wreckage of a mid-air collision between a Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines jet in the Potomac River.
A revised version of the House’s aviation safety bill now has the backing of the NTSB, but most of the families of the 67 victims of last year’s midair collision near Washington, D.C., still want to see tougher requirements to ensure the reforms are completed. The National Transportation Safety Board said the Alert Act now addresses its recommendation to require all aircraft flying around busy airports to have key locator systems that would allow the pilots to know more precisely where the traffic around them is flying. The NTSB has been recommending the systems since 2008. The victims’ families said Thursday that they are encouraged by the changes in the bill but won’t endorse it until it also has strict timelines for implementation like the Senate bill that came up one vote short had. “Any safety requirement that routes implementation through negotiated processes, administrative discretion, or multi-step rulemaking creates opportunities for delay that cost lives,” the families said. “The strongest version of this bill will set clear statutory timelines and performance standards that leave no room for process to become an obstacle.”NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy sharply criticized the original version of the bill last month as a “watered down” measure that wouldn’t do enough to prevent future tragedies. But the board said in a statement that the revised version, which was drafted with input from experts at the agency that investigates crashes, would address the shortcomings their investigation identified. The bill will now require planes to have Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast In systems that can receive data about the locations of other aircraft that would have alerted the pilots of an American Airlines jet sooner about the impending collision with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Jan. 29, 2025. Most planes already have the ADS-B Out systems that broadcast their locations. The NTSB cited systemic weaknesses and years of ignored warnings as the main causes of the crash, but Homendy has said that if both the plane and the Black Hawk had been equipped with ADS-B In and the systems had been turned on, the collision would have been prevented. The Army’s policy at the time of the crash mandated that its helicopters fly without that system on to conceal their locations, although the helicopter involved in this crash was on a training flight, not a sensitive mission. A number of key industry groups, including the Airlines for America trade group and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, have backed the House bill.A revised version of the House’s aviation safety bill now has the backing of the NTSB, but most of the families of the 67 victims of last year’s midair collision near Washington, D.C., still want to see tougher requirements to ensure the reforms are completed. The National Transportation Safety Board said the Alert Act now Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro returns to a New York courtroom Thursday as he seeks to have his drug trafficking indictment thrown out over a geopolitical dispute over legal fees. It’s the first time that Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, will be in court since a January arraignment at which he protested their capture WASHINGTON — The House Ethics Committee is holding a rare public hearing Thursday into alleged ethics violations committed by Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida, pushing into the open a yearslong investigation into how she funded her political rise. The two-term congresswoman is facing numerous ethics charges, including failing to follow campaign finance laws, WASHINGTON — Bill Maher will win the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, the Kennedy Center said Thursday, less than a week after the White House forcefully denied that the comedian, who has had a hot-and-cold relationship with President Donald Trump, would win it. “For nearly three decades, the Mark Twain Prize has The average Wall Street bonus rose to a record $246,900 in 2025 amid a surge in profits, New York state’s comptroller reported Thursday. The average bonus rose 6% – or almost $15,000 higher – from the previous year. Wall Street’s bonus pool reached a record $49.2 billion in 2025, up 9%, according to Comptroller Thomas It’s costing more and more to gas up the hot rods that Donnie Beson has spent a lifetime tinkering with. He’s not questioning his support for President Donald Trump, but he feels as though the war in Iran has distracted the Republican president from the issues that got him elected. “Come on, Trump. Worry about WSECU Community Champion: Chrystal Ortega’s mission to feed Spokane Chrystal Ortega's tireless dedication recently earned her the WSECU Community Champions Award and a $1,000 grant to further the mission.When Shawn Tibbitts opened Tibbitts FernHill, he was just trying to survive. The small Tacoma restaurant has since earned culinary awards and praise.Wilcox Family Farms is continuing its cherished holiday tradition of giving back by donating nearly one million eggs to food banks across the South Sound region this season.Matthew Ballantyne has transformed that early awareness into action, embodying the organization's mission:"No Kid Sleeps On The Floor In Our Town."
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