Interesting week ahead
Besides the NTSB's two days of hearings for its investigation of the UPS MD-11 accident, and in addition to the TRB group's three days of meetings noted a few posts previously, on May 19 the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee is scheduled to hold a relevant hearing .... from the Committee website:
______________
"FAA to Testify on Latest Post-DCA Crash Safety Measures
May 6, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Chairman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation, Space, and Innovation, will convene a subcommittee hearing on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, at 2:00 p.m., regarding new procedures at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in light of recent recommendations to the FAA from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
Following the January 2025 midair collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 and a U.S. Army Black Hawk UH-60 helicopter, which killed 67 individuals, the NTSB issued 50 safety recommendations, two-thirds of which were directed at the FAA.
This hearing will provide the subcommittee an opportunity to assess the FAA’s response to the NTSB recommendations, review current standards, and examine steps the agency has taken to prevent future midair collisions since the deadly crash over the Potomac River.
Upon announcing the hearing, Senator Moran said: “After the tragic aviation accident at Reagan Washington National Airport last January, the NTSB issued more than 30 recommendations directed at the FAA to strengthen aviation safety and prevent future disasters. Our aviation system is fragile, as demonstrated by the several close calls, and we cannot afford any delays in implementation of these safety standards. I look forward to receiving a full and detailed update from Administrator Bedford on the measures taken by the FAA to carry out the NTSB’s safety recommendations to make certain our skies are safe for all who fly.”
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said: “The NTSB’s investigation showed numerous warning signs at DCA were there, but missed by the FAA. In just the three years before the mid-air collision, there were over 15,000 near misses. Aviation safety requires not just a competent and vigilant FAA, but reforms that help pilots, too. The ROTOR Act, which has overwhelmingly bipartisan support, ensures pilots can see and be seen by all aircraft in both daylight and darkness. It is the commonsense aviation reform the system desperately needs.”
Witness:
Hon. Bryan Bedford, Administrator, Federal Aviation Administration"
__________
A related point to note is about the ALERT Act. It requires several studies and reports to be conducted and delivered to the Congress. One would think that the National Academies TRB group's output - given the deep professional backgrounds of the participants - will at the very least, give a kick-start to those required studies and reports if the legislation becomes law.
The hearing before Sen. Moran's Subcommittee also will be interesting as another episode in the often mocked and derided sausage-making..... I mean, legislalive process. The Senate passed the ROTOR Act, championed by the Senate Commerce Committee leadership. But the ROTOR Act failed to pass the House, which instead passed the ALERT Act, which now . . . is pending at the Senate Commerce Committee level. I have no antidotes for cynicism nor do I offer any fake ones - I'm just followimg "developments".
And then there is the litigation arising from the DCA accident in progress in federal court in Washington against the U.S. federal government and the airline. At the risk of making it even more glaringly obvious that, following graduation from law school I did not serve as a judicial law clerk, it seems quite likely that the judge presiding over the DCA accident case will confront several legal issues, the court's ruling on which may depend heavily on a sufficiently correct (valid) and robust understanding of matters about airspace design, ATC procedures, flight operations, and so forth. I'm particulary thinking of efforts to secure the professional aviator legacies of the Bluestreak pilots against the mercenary and scandalous accusations made against them by the plaintiff attorneys. If such a critique of the accusations against the Bluestreak pilots is valid, and if the TRB group's report(s) support such a critique, count this SLF as hoping the District Court will take judicial notice. And that the judicial law clerks will read this thread, if necessary backward and forward.
WillowRun 6-3 (51 years after May 1975)
[Edit: the ALERT Act is H.R. 7613; H. Rept 119-608 (2 parts)]
Last edited by WillowRun 6-3; 18th May 2026 at 03:37.