U.S. Senator Ted Budd (R-N.C.), a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, has joined Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and other colleagues in introducing the Rotorcraft Operations Transparency and Oversight Reform (ROTOR) Act. The legislation comes in response to the fatal accident near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) on January 29, 2025, which resulted in 67 deaths.
The ROTOR Act proposes new requirements for nearly all aircraft to use Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B), a technology that enables aircraft to communicate their location with greater accuracy than traditional radar systems.
On the six-month anniversary of the DCA crash, Senator Budd attended a press conference alongside Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Bryan Bedford, National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy, other senators, and families of crash victims to announce the bill.
During his remarks at the event, Senator Budd stated:
“I wish we weren’t here because I wish this wasn’t an anniversary at all […] This hits home, because six out of the 67 souls that lost their lives that day were North Carolinians, or North Carolina connected, including all four members of the Charlotte-based flight crew and one of the helicopter pilots.
“I’m hopeful that our efforts in Congress, starting today, are going to make a difference in making our entire air traffic control system and our airspace a lot safer. ADS-B is a critical safety technology. Mandating that aircraft are equipped and using this technology […] I think is a key step in making sure that all Americans are safe.”
The ROTOR Act is co-sponsored by Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), and Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.).
The legislation would require all aircraft operating in controlled airspace to be equipped with “ADS-B In,” which improves communication between pilots, air traffic control personnel, and ground vehicles. It also addresses an existing loophole by mandating that Department of Defense aircraft operating domestically must use “ADS-B Out” technology. The bill includes provisions for increased oversight of helicopter routes near commercial airports, quarterly compliance reports on ADS-B usage, studies into possible improvements around DCA’s airspace, and requires newly manufactured aircraft intended for crowded airspaces to have ADS-B equipment installed.
