Private pilots’ revolt stalls post-crash air safety bill; debate heats up over equipment rule

Pushback from private aircraft owners has stalled passage of legislation that proponents say would help prevent a repeat of the tragic collision last year between a commercial jet and a Black Hawk helicopter at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

The Rotorcraft Operations Transparency and Oversight Reform Act passed the Senate unanimously in December. Rather than receiving a quick endorsement from the House, the ROTOR Act is undergoing new scrutiny by House Republicans amid complaints that it would require private pilots to purchase expensive equipment that could compromise their privacy.

The debate on the legislation is heating up nearly two weeks from the Jan. 29 anniversary of the devastating collision at the airport that killed 64 passengers and crew aboard American Airlines Flight 5342 and three soldiers on an Army Black Hawk helicopter.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, is discussing revisions with House lawmakers, particularly Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves, Missouri Republican, sources told The Washington Times.

The negotiations center on a requirement that all pilots entering busy commercial airspace equip their planes with a type of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast equipment, known as ADS-B In, which provides weather and traffic positions of other planes directly to the cockpit.

The technology would give pilots an awareness of nearby aircraft, which proponents say will help them avoid midair collisions.

A spokesperson for the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee told The Times that the panel is awaiting the National Transportation Safety Board’s final report on the Reagan National accident before acting on the bill.

“Once we review and take into account the NTSB’s final report, we will then consider any potential next steps,” the spokesperson said.

The NTSB is scheduled to hold a Jan. 27 hearing, where its final report on the accident is expected to be released.

In the meantime, Mr. Graves said he would not support the bill without changes.

“This is emotional legislation, and the worst legislation is legislation that comes about as a result of an accident like this. Nothing in this act would have prevented what happened to D.C.,” Mr. Graves told Politico.

The accident at Reagan National has been largely blamed on an Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter that flew into the American Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 airliner as the plane was flying over the Potomac River on final approach to the airport.

General aviation pilots say the Senate-passed legislation goes too far and places a heavy burden on private pilots who had nothing to do with the collision.

Although many newer private planes and private jets already have the equipment installed, many older private aircraft do not.

Installing the equipment on a small private aircraft could cost up to $50,000 unless alternative portable devices can be substituted, Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Bryan Bedford said last month at a House hearing.

Portable devices are significantly more affordable, ranging in cost from a few hundred dollars to more than $1,000. The legislation allows certain light aircraft, including many Cessnas, Pipers and Beechcrafts, to use portable devices, but the equipment must meet standards that have yet to be determined.

Mr. Bedford said private pilots are also worried about privacy, specifically that their ADS-B information could be “taken and published.”

He told House lawmakers that the issues can be worked out to satisfy private pilots, who would benefit from the technology. 

“The ROTOR Act, as a pilot, I love it,” he said. “I think we want more situational awareness, not less.”

The requirement would follow a 2010 FAA rule that mandated all airplanes install Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, known as ADS-B Out, which broadcasts information about a plane’s GPS location, altitude, ground speed and other data to ground stations and other aircraft at a rate of once per second.

Some general aviation pilots struggled to come up with the thousands of dollars needed to install the equipment by the 2020 deadline, and it forced the retirement of many older private jets.

All commercial airlines are equipped with ADS-B Out technology, and many newer commercial planes have installed both ADS-B In and ADS-B Out equipment.

Many commercial jets do not have ADS-B In installed.

In commercial airliners, the cost of installing ADS-B In technology would be significantly higher than in private planes.

An NTSB source who has criticisms of the legislation’s mandate said it would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars per commercial airliner to install the equipment. Some commercial airliners, the NTSB source said, “do not have the capability for it and it will need to be developed.”

Although all commercial airliners are required to use ADS-B Out technology, it is unclear how many use the ADS-B In equipment that displays nearby planes.

American Airlines has installed ADS-B In technology on all of its 300 Airbus A321 aircraft, the company said. A spokesperson would not disclose how many of its fleet overall use ADS-B In technology.

The Black Hawk involved in the collision at Reagan National was operating with its ADS-B Out system turned off.

The ROTOR Act would require military aircraft to keep ADS-B systems on when operating near busy airports, with some exceptions allowed for missions involving Cabinet members or the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman.

It’s not clear whether the regional jet hit by the helicopter was equipped with ADS-B In, which would have alerted the pilots to the Black Hawk if it had its ADS-B Out equipment turned on.

A spokesperson for Mr. Cruz said 80% of general aviation already uses the technology proposed in the bill and equipping aircraft with ADS-B In is a long-standing NTSB recommendation.

“This commonsense safety requirement would have prevented the DCA crash that claimed 67 lives and will prevent another needless tragedy,” the spokesperson said.