H.R. 7613: ALERT Act

The ALERT Act runs 23 sections deep across two titles and touches nearly every layer of the airspace safety stack, from the cockpit instruments to the Pentagon's flight rules. It was introduced by Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO) and Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-WA), alongside Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL) and Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-WA), with 84 bipartisan cosponsors signing on within weeks.

The bill's collision-avoidance provisions work on parallel tracks. Section 101 gives the FAA 180 days to evaluate whether ACAS-Xa alert inhibit altitudes can be lowered, so the system warns pilots of threats closer to the ground rather than going silent during the exact phase of flight where the DCA collision happened. Section 102 establishes a rulemaking committee within 45 days to set deadlines for upgrading all commercial aircraft from the legacy TCAS II to ACAS-Xa, including new aural alert standards that call out clock position, relative altitude, range, and vertical tendency. Section 103 does the same for helicopters operating in Class B airspace, requiring ACAS-Xr collision avoidance systems for rotorcraft. And Section 104 launches a negotiated rulemaking to require all turbine-powered aircraft and all civil aircraft in Class B and C airspace to carry ADS-B In collision mitigation technology by December 31, 2031.

The Washington-specific provisions are unmistakable. Multiple sections target Reagan National Airport by name: the FAA must reassess DCA's arrival rates and switch to 30-minute IFR allocation periods (Section 108), implement time-based flow management at Potomac TRACON within a year (Section 109), evaluate whether all aircraft should share a single radio frequency when helicopter and local control positions are combined at the DCA tower (Section 111), and revise all helicopter routes in the DCA vicinity within 90 days to ensure they are physically deconflicted from fixed-wing approach paths at all times (Section 116). The bill also mandates vertical separation minimums on helicopter route charts near airports (Section 117) and requires annual helicopter route reviews with congressional reporting and in-person briefings if the FAA misses the deadline (Section 115).

The air traffic control reforms go deeper than equipment. Section 106 establishes a controller training working group focused on threat and error management. Section 107 contracts with a federally funded research center to build a real-time safety risk assessment tool for controllers. Section 113 creates a task force to redesign the conflict alert system so it differentiates alerts by severity rather than treating every warning the same. Section 114 fixes post-accident drug and alcohol testing so supervisors can order tests immediately without waiting for an investigation. And Section 121 orders the DOT Inspector General to audit the Air Traffic Organization's entire safety culture, specifically examining why the FAA's own data systems failed to identify and mitigate the risk of midair collisions near DCA before January 29, 2025.

Title II brings the Defense Department under the same framework. Military manned rotary-wing aircraft in the National Capital Region must transmit ADS-B Out within one year (Section 201), and the bill supersedes the existing DOD-FAA memorandum of agreement with a new one that pulls military operations into a more formal national airspace safety structure.

The bill has drawn pointed criticism. The NTSB stated it cannot support the ALERT Act because it falls short of fully implementing the Board's 50 safety recommendations. The main objection: the ALERT Act does not mandate integrated ADS-B In, instead allowing portable devices like electronic flight bags as an alternative means of compliance. The families of Flight 5342's victims have sided with the NTSB, calling for the Senate-passed ROTOR Act instead. The Air Line Pilots Association also opposes the bill on similar grounds. The core tension is between the House bill's broader scope and more flexible compliance timelines and the Senate bill's narrower but stricter technology mandates.