"The bill we are considering today ... looks vastly different than the legislation introduced in February," said Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Everett, who spearheaded the House effort alongside fellow Washington state Democrat Rep. Adam Smith, of Bellevue, and Republican Reps. Sam Graves, of Missouri, and Mike Rogers, of Alabama.
"Tireless efforts" among lawmakers, the National Transportation Safety Board and families "have made this bill better," Larsen said on the House floor, resulting in a "truly comprehensive safety bill."
The Airspace Location and Enhanced Risk Transparency Act, or ALERT Act, seeks to address critical surveillance gaps exposed by a deadly January 2025 midair collision of an American Airlines plane with an Army helicopter near the nation's capital that killed 67 people.
Federal lawmakers from Washington state have since led the pursuit for national reforms, championing substantially different bills in the Senate and House to implement safety recommendations laid out by the NTSB in response to the collision — efforts that must be reconciled before reaching the president's desk.
The ALERT Act passed the House 396-10 on Tuesday evening, heading to the Senate, where its fate remains unclear.
Key senators, including Washington state's Sen. Maria Cantwell, say the legislation falls short of requiring necessary measures to prevent fatal crashes, suggesting the bill will not sail through the Senate as is; Cantwell last year joined Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to introduce the competing Rotorcraft Operations Transparency and Oversight Reform Act, or ROTOR Act. A pilots union and the crash victims' families express reservations about the ALERT Act as well.
The NTSB, meanwhile, switched its stance. After initially criticizing the bill for failing to adequately address all of its recommendations, the safety board has since publicly supported the version of the bill that passed Tuesday, calling it historic. Larsen celebrated Tuesday's passage as a wholly bipartisan effort.
Now, the act's passage allows lawmakers "to begin critical discussions with the Senate," Larsen said.
The ALERT Act has faced a contentious road to this point.
When Smith, Larsen, Rogers and Graves first introduced the ALERT Act in February, it drew immediate widespread disapproval — from the families who lost loved ones in the deadly crash; the union representing commercial pilots; Cantwell and Cruz, who head the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation; and even the NTSB, an investigative body that rarely gets involved in politics.
Much of the contention hinged on technology known as Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast, or ADS-B.
ADS-B Out, which broadcasts information about an aircraft’s location, altitude and other data to nearby aircraft and air traffic controllers, is already required for most aircraft in busy airspace. ADS-B In, the system that allows aircraft to receive data from other nearby aircraft, is not mandated.
The technology may have given the commercial airplane pilots more time to react to avoid a collision in the case of the January 2025 crash, the NTSB said. The safety board has been recommending requirements for such systems since 2008.
The NTSB blasted the original version of the ALERT Act in February for not adequately mandating the technology. Weeks of negotiations later, a revised version won the support of some of its early critics, including the board, and unanimously cleared two key House committees last month.
Jennifer Homendy, the board's chair, said all 50 of its recommendations were adequately addressed in the latest version of the ALERT Act.
"We were heard, we were listened to, we were consulted," Homendy said during a committee hearing on the bill late last month. "It is historic. We have never had legislation that addresses all of our recommendations."
Under the revised bill, the Federal Aviation Administration would issue a final rule to require ADS-B In for aircraft that are already mandated to use traffic alert and collision avoidance systems, known as TCAS. The updated system using ADS-B In must provide visual and audible alerts to the pilots and crew.
The final rule would take effect no later than Dec. 31, 2031, according to the bill, and would provide some exemptions. Mainly, it would allow aircraft to use other forms of “collision prevention technology” if the FAA “determines it provides an equivalent level of safety.”
Still, the families affected by the January 2025 crash said the revised bill is not strong enough. "The collision prevention technologies ALERT Act relies upon are not market ready and could take years to become widely available," the families said in a statement Tuesday.
Without installation-ready technology, the families said, Congress will be forced to delay compliance. The families seek a firmer timeline, more stringent surveillance requirements and narrow exemptions in the legislation.
The Air Line Pilots Association also shared concerns that the legislation does not fully ensure that "pilots are given optimal situational awareness that can prevent future tragedies.”
"While we do not oppose the ALERT Act and appreciate its safety improvements, there's still more that can and should be done," the association said in a statement.
As the ALERT Act heads to the Senate, Cantwell said the ROTOR Act remains "the gold standard when it comes to ADS-B In technology and military safety equipment requirements."
Cruz more explicitly condemned the ALERT Act, urging Congress not to advance the bill Tuesday. "The ALERT Act would not deliver the safety measures necessary to prevent another midair collision, as it lacks the critical improvements our aviation system needs," Cruz said.
Cantwell and Cruz's ROTOR Act narrowly failed in the House in February after the Pentagon abruptly withdrew its support. Families, the pilots union and the NTSB had backed the bill — its failure was devastating, Homendy recalled. "Right after the ROTOR Act failed on the House floor, ranking member (Adam) Smith called me an hour later and said 'I understand it might be difficult right now, we're going to work with you,'" Homendy said.
Cantwell indicated there is more work to be done.
"I'm committed to continuing to work with the families of those lost in the midair collision near DCA (Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport) and my colleagues to get the strongest safety bill possible, Cantwell said.
© 2026 The Seattle Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
