US senator presses Pentagon to use key safety system in DC-area helicopter flights

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top Senate Democrat on the committee overseeing aviation challenged the Pentagon on Friday to justify not using a key safety system on routine military helicopter flights in the U.S. capital region following a deadly accident.

A U.S. Army helicopter that collided with an American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) regional jet in January near Washington’s Reagan Airport, killing 67, was not broadcasting ADS-B signals.

"It is not credible to assert that each of the several thousand helicopter flights operated annually in the National Capital Region is sufficiently sensitive to merit a blanket exemption to operate without a critical safety feature like ADS-B Out activated," said Senator Maria Cantwell in a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Civilian airplanes must use ADS-B, an advanced aircraft-tracking technology, but the Federal Aviation Administration in 2019 gave the military an exemption in rare circumstances.

Cantwell, who serves on the Commerce Committee, said the Pentagon "has gone far beyond the letter and spirit of this regulatory exemption, despite the potential impact on aviation safety."

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Airlines for America, a U.S. airline trade group, on Tuesday called for military aircraft to be required to use ADS-B near large airports. It also urged the FAA to permanently suspend some helicopter routes near the Washington airport except for essential military or medical flights.

Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican who chairs the Commerce Committee, previously said, "There was no compelling national security reason for ADS-B to be turned off" in the January accident because the Army helicopter was on a training mission.

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