By Trish Svoboda/Image courtesy Canva

Despite months of negotiations and broad bipartisan support, the U.S. House of Representatives failed to pass the ROTOR Act, a bill aimed at improving aviation safety after a deadly midair collision over the Potomac River last January.

Senator Jerry Moran highlighted the dangers of the delay in a letter to the editor. The ROTOR Act included safety measures recommended by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), including a system called Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B). This technology allows aircraft to see each other in real time and could have given pilots nearly a minute’s warning before the collision.

Families of the victims and safety experts have long pushed for these requirements. But days before the House vote, lawmakers proposed an alternative bill that was easier on the Pentagon. The Defense Department cited “budget and security concerns” and withdrew support, even though those issues had already been addressed in Senate discussions.

Sen. Moran called the failure to pass the ROTOR Act “a missed opportunity to make our skies safer” and warned that each day the bill remains unpassed puts passengers at risk.