In a storm of controversy that has gripped both aviation experts and lawmakers, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued a forceful warning about a provision in the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), arguing that it could set back hard-won aviation safety reforms made after the nation’s deadliest midair disaster in decades. The debate centers on Section 373 of the NDAA, a clause that, according to the NTSB and several prominent senators, risks recreating the very conditions that led to the catastrophic crash near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport earlier this year.
On January 29, 2025, tragedy struck the crowded skies over the Potomac River when American Airlines Flight 5342, a regional CRJ700 jet, collided midair with a U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. All 67 passengers and crew aboard the commercial jet, along with the helicopter’s three-member crew, lost their lives. The disaster—deemed the deadliest in U.S. aviation in more than 20 years—prompted a sweeping investigation and urgent calls for reform. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the collision exposed critical gaps in awareness and alerting technologies, particularly the lack of active ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast) transmissions from the military helicopter.
After the crash, the Department of Defense and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) agreed to require military aircraft operating in the Washington, D.C., airspace to broadcast their positions using ADS-B Out, a technology that transmits an aircraft’s real-time GPS location to ground stations and nearby planes. But now, as the NDAA heads toward a vote in Congress, Section 373 threatens to undo that progress. The provision would allow military departments to conduct rotary wing training missions in the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Area Special Flight Rules Area under conditions similar to those before the deadly collision—potentially without mandatory ADS-B broadcasts.
On December 10, 2025, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy sent a sharply worded letter to congressional leaders, urging them to strike Section 373 from the bill. "It’s a safety whitewash," Homendy told reporters, as quoted by BERITAJA. "If it sounds like I’m mad, I am mad. This is shameful." She didn’t mince words in her public statements or her letter, describing the measure as “shameful” and “an unthinkable dismissal of our investigation and of 67 families who lost loved ones in a tragedy that was entirely preventable," according to KWCH.
The heart of the NTSB’s concern is that the bill’s language would allow the Secretary of a military department, with concurrence from the Secretary of Transportation, to waive warning requirements if deemed necessary for national security—provided a risk assessment is conducted. However, Homendy argued that the military may not be fully equipped to assess risks in the complex D.C. airspace and that mere congressional notification of such waivers is no substitute for robust safety oversight. The NTSB pointed out that the Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) was inhibited during the low-altitude descent of Flight 5342, and although it issued an alert nearly 20 seconds before impact, it failed to prevent the crash.
In March 2025, Homendy revealed a particularly damning detail: “For this accident helicopter, no ADS-B data had been received from an FAA ground station for 730 days,” highlighting the long-standing absence of this safety technology on the ill-fated Black Hawk. As reported by KWCH, the NTSB has repeatedly emphasized that ADS-B is not just a technological nicety, but a critical safeguard in crowded and complex airspace like that over Washington, D.C.
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have been anything but unified on the issue. Several senators—including Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.)—issued a joint statement supporting the NTSB’s position. “As drafted, the NDAA protects the status quo, allowing military aircraft to keep flying in DC airspace under different rules and with outdated transmission requirements,” the senators wrote, as cited by BERITAJA and NPR. “This comes as Pentagon data shows a spike in military aircraft accidents since 2020. The families of the victims deserve accountability.” The senators are pushing for the bipartisan ROTOR Act, which would require all aircraft operators to equip their fleets with ADS-B technology and sharply limit exemptions for military helicopters.
Committee leaders responsible for the NDAA, however, have defended the bill. In a statement quoted by NPR, Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL), and Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-Wash.) insisted that the bill would still require helicopters conducting training missions around Washington, D.C., to provide position warnings to other aircraft, though it would not specifically mandate ADS-B. They also noted that any waiver of these requirements would require the concurrence of the Secretary of Transportation.
Homendy and the NTSB remain unconvinced. The board argues that the new language would essentially “reverse safety changes made after the midair collision and essentially gives the military unfettered access to the crowded and complex DC airspace,” as reported by KWCH. Homendy added, “We should be working together in partnership to prevent the next accident, not inviting history to repeat itself by recreating the same conditions that were in place on January 29th.”
The NTSB’s frustration has been compounded by what it describes as a lack of consultation from lawmakers. “I will talk to anyone on the Hill. I don’t care who they are. But not once, not once did House Armed Services or Senate Armed Services reach out to us,” Homendy lamented, according to KWCH. She has offered the agency’s expertise to help lawmakers address safety concerns, but so far, says her advice has gone unheeded.
The families of those lost in the January crash have also spoken out, urging Congress to strengthen the provision. “The flying public and all those that utilize our airspace deserve better than what this bill provides,” said Tim and Sheri Lilley, whose son, Sam, was the first officer of Flight 5342. “Congress now has a choice: strengthen this provision and protect the traveling public or leave in place the same vulnerabilities that have already cost too many people their lives.”
As the NDAA moves closer to a final vote, the issue has split congressional delegations along party lines in some states. In Kansas, for example, three GOP representatives voted in favor of the bill, while the state’s lone Democratic representative opposed it, according to KWCH. The debate has also underscored broader tensions between national security priorities and the need for rigorous aviation oversight.
Whether Section 373 will remain in the final version of the NDAA is still up in the air. But for the families of Flight 5342, the NTSB, and many aviation safety advocates, the stakes could not be higher. The memory of January’s tragedy lingers, a stark reminder that, in aviation, progress is often written in the names of those lost—and that vigilance, not complacency, is the true guardian of the skies.
