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Lawmakers frustrated with apparent safety risk-analysis failures at the FAA pressed Acting Administrator Chris Rocheleau to examine why reports of near-collisions between helicopters and commercial jets did not prompt more action and revisit whether expanding ADS-B requirements makes sense.
Testifying in a U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, & Transportation aviation subcommittee hearing on January’s mid-air collision between an American Eagle regional jet and a U.S. Army Sikorsky Black Hawk near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), Rocheleau emphasized that the FAA reviews all incidents that trigger collision warnings on aircraft or in air traffic control facilities. But despite a number of reports of such conflicts over the years, the FAA did little to reduce risk.
“The reports that came in previously were certainly analyzed, but something was missed,” Rocheleau said.
The FAA eliminated mixed flying near DCA soon after the Jan. 29 crash that killed all 67 onboard both aircraft. The agency has also begun using artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze both historical and new data to help detect patterns of risk. The effort started at 21 airports with helicopter routes but will be expanded elsewhere.
“I anticipate that activity being concluded in the next couple weeks,” Rocheleau said. “Our teams are being very intentional about how they go through that airspace, because it’s been built over time as it relates to helicopter routes and other approaches and departure routes. So, we’re being very intentional, very careful. We don’t want to move quickly [and induce] additional risk.”
An NTSB analysis of FAA data from 2011-2024 found commercial aircraft received an average of one traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) resolution advisory (RA) per month due to conflicts with helicopters near DCA. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) suggested the data should have been enough to prompt stronger FAA intervention.
“You had an alarm going off once a month. You had the data,” Cantwell said. “While I get that AI is very new and interesting technology, it’s no substitute for the FAA having an oversight over this level of traffic.”
Among the many aspects of the accident being scrutinized is the Black Hawk’s lack of ADS-B. Like many military flights and all missions flown by the Black Hawk’s 12th Aviation Battalion at Fort Belvoir, the ADS-B broadcasting was disabled for the accident flight.
ADS-B Out is mandatory for commercial operators and others that fly in busy U.S. airspace. But ADS-B In, which takes ADS-B Out data and feeds it to flight deck displays, was never mandated due to what the FAA determined was a lack of benefits compared to equipage costs.
The NTSB has long recommended that commercial aircraft have both ADS-B Out and In to add a layer of situational awareness.
“We’re going to look at this as part of our investigation to see how it could have factored in,” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy told lawmakers. “The CRJ had ADS-B Out. It did not have ADS-B In. We’re going to look at what that information could have provided to that flight crew, and how it could have made a difference.”
Rocheleau said that the FAA will re-examine operating agreements with operators, notably the Department of Defense, that permit operations without ADS-B Out enabled. An agreement affecting DCA airspace has been overridden by new FAA requirements, he said, adding a layer of safety to the traffic-mix ban and permanent closures of some helicopter routes put in place soon after the accident.
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