ALERT Act

What this does

The ALERT Act is Congress's response to the January 29, 2025 midair collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport that killed 67 people. It orders the FAA to issue a final rule within two years, effective no later than December 31, 2031, requiring most non-military aircraft to carry collision prevention technology that uses ADS-B In and gives pilots audible traffic alerts. It orders a separate rulemaking to require aircraft already mandated to carry collision avoidance systems to be equipped with the ACAS Xa system. It permanently closes the segment of Helicopter Route 4 between Hains Point and the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge as that route existed on the day of the crash, and keeps that segment off helicopter charts. It bars any person or agency from using ADS-B data to identify an aircraft in order to obtain revenue from its owner without consent, and extends an existing statutory ban on such use from the FAA Administrator to any Federal, State, local, territorial, or Tribal official. It adds a new Aviation Safety chapter to defense law that requires the Departments of Defense and Transportation to enter a memorandum of agreement by September 30, 2026, and requires Defense Department manned rotary wing aircraft flying in the National Capital Region to transmit ADS-B Out, with an exception for special missions. It requires the Secretary of the Army to give the Armed Services Committees a copy of the Army's command investigation of the collision. It repeals the prior rotary wing safety provision at section 2654 of title 10. The bill also directs new air traffic controller training, controller time-on-position limits, annual helicopter route reviews, and a public rulemaking dashboard.