S. 2503: ROTOR Act

The ROTOR Act attacks the problem from both ends. It starts by narrowing the "sensitive government mission" exception that lets aircraft fly without broadcasting their location. Under the bill, that exception can no longer cover routine flights, training, proficiency checks, or trips for officials below Cabinet rank. Only genuine sensitive missions, signed off at the Cabinet level or by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, would still qualify.

On the other end, it requires aircraft to start receiving other planes' positions, not just transmitting their own. Today's rules make many aircraft broadcast where they are, but don't require them to receive where everyone else is. The bill phases in that receiving capability, essentially a collision-warning display in the cockpit, with a hard deadline of December 31, 2031.

When an agency does fly dark on a real sensitive mission, it has to tell air traffic control in the moment and report to Congress every month. If any agency uses the exception five or more times in a single month, the FAA has to flag it to Congress within 14 days.

The bill also takes aim at the conditions behind the crash. It repeals a 2025 law that had exempted certain military helicopters from tracking rules in the Washington, DC area, orders the Army's Inspector General to audit the Black Hawk unit that flies the capital's airspace, and stands up a new FAA office to coordinate military and civilian flights, starting with a safety review of Reagan National.