Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), chairman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation, Space and Innovation, applauded the Commerce Committee’s passage of the bipartisan Rotorcraft Operations Transparency and Oversight Reform (ROTOR) Act, which included elements of Sen. Moran’s legislation requiring broad adoption of ADS-B technology.
The ROTOR Act aims to improve aviation safety in response to the tragic midair collision between an American Airlines regional jet and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter that claimed 67 lives on January 29th near Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA).
Following passage of the ROTOR Act by the Senate Commerce Committee, Sen. Moran recognized family members of the DCA crash victims in the audience and gave remarks on the importance of the aviation safety legislation in preventing aviation tragedies. The bill will now move to the full Senate for consideration.
“It brings back memories of January 29th,” said Sen. Moran. “I know that we continue to mourn the loss of family members and victims of a tragedy that occurred that day. American Airlines Flight 5342 originated from Wichita, Kansas, carrying Kansans and others, and it’s certainly changed the way we now think about air traffic safety. Today, we seek to address many safety concerns and make our skies safer both for civilian travelers and our military men and women.”
“Central to the conversation surrounding that day in January is the use of and the failure to use ADS-B technology,” continued Sen. Moran. “While elements of ADS-B Out technology are mandated by the FAA, others are not. This bill encourages greater adoption of integration of ADS-B In technologies which share an aircraft’s GPS position, altitude, identity, ground speed with air traffic control and other aircraft equipment with ADS-B In. Broader use of this technology improves safety and could have saved lives on the evening of January the 29th.”
“It should not take a tragedy to get us to this point, and I’m grateful that this committee is taking steps to address recent accidents as well as taking a proactive approach to aviation safety,” concluded Sen. Moran.