The National Transportation Safety Board and Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser are speaking out against a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act they say would pose a threat to the district’s airspace.
The House passed the annual defense bill by a vote of 312-112 on Wednesday, sending it to the Senate for final passage before it hits President Donald Trump’s desk. But officials are speaking out against a small provision in the over 3,000-page bill that they say reverses the airspace safety progress the district has made following the January midair collision over the Potomac River that left 67 people dead.
NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy gave a scathing rebuke of the provision, Section 373 of the bill, calling it a “significant safety risk” and saying that the provision is drafted to read like it enhances airspace security when it does the opposite.
“It reverses safety changes made after the mid-air collision, after issuance of our urgent safety recommendations, after the Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy rightfully implemented our urgent safety recommendations, and essentially gives the military unfettered access to the crowded and complex DC airspace,” Homendy said.
She said the provision essentially allows military leaders to allow training missions in Washington, D.C.’s airspace without regard to any of the safety reforms implemented after the Jan. 29 collision, which saw a Black Hawk helicopter collide with a commercial plane landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport, killing everyone aboard each aircraft — 64 on the plane and three in the helicopter.
Homendy said in a press conference that the NDAA provision disregards the agency’s reform efforts to make the airspace safer during its investigation of the crash. She said that Congress never consulted the NTSB about the provision and sent a letter to lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Wednesday with her concerns.
“It represents an unacceptable risk to the flying public, to commercial and military aircraft crews and to the residents in the region. It’s also an unthinkable dismissal of our investigation and of 67 families who lost loved ones in a tragedy that was entirely preventable. This is shameful,” Homendy said.
The provision says military aircraft operating training missions in the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Area Special Flight Rules Area must provide “warning of the proximity of such aircraft to nearby commercial aircraft in a manner compatible with the traffic alert and collision avoidance system of such commercial aircraft.”
Homendy said in her letter to lawmakers that providing a warning in accordance with the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System is not sufficient, as TCAS warnings are inhibited when an aircraft descends below 900 feet. The DCA crash occurred just under 300 feet above sea level, and a TCAS alert was issued before the collision occurred, Homendy wrote.
She further explained that the NTSB implemented safety regulations following the crash to ensure that military aircraft use ADS-B Out systems to broadcast their locations and that the NDAA provision would roll back those reforms.
Bowser said she is “deeply concerned” about the provision in a statement released on Wednesday.
“It is now clear that this provision was included without consultation from the NTSB, the agency leading the investigation into the crash, and without regard for the safety of DC residents, visitors, and our military personnel. I urge Congress to strike Section 373 from the NDAA and to follow the recommendations of safety experts,” Bowser said.
Members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation — Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Jerry Moran (R-KS), and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) — released a joint statement calling for Congress to strip the NDAA of the provision.
“Almost a year after 67 lives were lost when a military helicopter hit American Airlines flight 5342 over the Potomac River, the NDAA fails to make the skies safer. As drafted, the NDAA protects the status quo, allowing military aircraft to keep flying in DC airspace under different rules and with outdated transmission requirements. This comes as Pentagon data shows a spike in military aircraft accidents since 2020. The families of the victims deserve accountability,” the senators wrote.
The senators also pointed to a statement from the families of the commercial flight involved in the midair collision, urging against the current form of the NDAA provision.
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“Over the past year, the Families of Flight 5342 have united to push for meaningful aviation safety reforms so that no other families suffer the same devastating loss,” the families said in the statement. “While we appreciate congressional attention to rotary-wing operations in the National Defense Authorization Act, Section 373 does not resolve the visibility and coordination failures that contributed to the tragedy. As written, it leaves the status quo largely unchanged.”
The Senate is expected to vote on the NDAA legislation next week.
, 2025-12-11 03:56:00, 
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