Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;for eight years. She joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in December 2014 as a senior editor covering Washington and business aviation news. She has also served on Convention News teams, including as editor of&nbsp;HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered&nbsp;The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the&nbsp;Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the&nbsp;Show News&nbsp;staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for&nbsp;Business &amp; Commercial Aviation&nbsp;and&nbsp;Overhaul &amp; Maintenance&nbsp;monthly magazines. In 2021 she was honored with the National Business Aviation Association Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement in journalism and was the 2004 recipient of the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Excellence Award. She also has been a recipient of an Aerospace Media Award for business aviation (2022) and NBAA Gold Wing Award (2003, 2024). Lynch graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

Editor, AIN monthly magazine

Kerry Lynch

Senate leadership is continuing to step up safety oversight in the aftermath of the January 29 midair collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (KDCA). Members on both sides of the aisle are calling for an independent review of airspace safety and a Democrat contingent is offering&nbsp;<a href="https://bit.ly/3HtCYQH">a bill</a> to address concerns stemming from the crash.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and ranking member Maria Cantwell (D-Washington), along with Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) and ranking member Gary Peters (D-Michigan), led a contingent of two dozen Senators that sent <a href="https://bit.ly/4jTIA4g">a letter</a> yesterday seeking concurrent inspector general audits within the Department of Transportation (DOT OIG) and the U.S. Army.
The lawmakers requested that the DOT OIG investigate the FAA’s management of the KDCA area, including its oversight of safety gaps, as well as the agency’s decisions regarding airspace design failures and the enforcement of ADS-B Out exemptions. In addition, the senators are seeking an Army OIG review of its coordination with the FAA, pilot training and qualification standards, and policies on ADS-B equipage, usage, and activation. Both audits additionally should look into the respective procedures, communications, and protocols, the senators said.
In March, the NTSB issued two urgent safety recommendations to deconflict airplane and rotorcraft traffic in the National Capital Region (NCR). It released data pointing to 15,214 close-proximity incidents between commercial aircraft and helicopters between October 2021 and December 2024.
“Despite these findings and the tragedy in January, on May 1, less than a week after resuming operations in the NCR, an Army Black Hawk helicopter flying a training mission to the Pentagon, also operated by The Army Aviation Brigade, aborted a landing at the Pentagon Heliport and caused [KDCA] air traffic control to issue go-around orders to two commercial aircraft on final approach,” the lawmakers pointed out in requesting the audits.
Separately, seven Senate Democrats, led by Cantwell and aviation subcommittee ranking member Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois), introduced the Safe Operation of Shared Airspace Act of 2025 to address many of the issues that have already surfaced in the accident’s aftermath.
The lawmakers maintained that the crash has exposed multiple system failures, from Army Black Hawks not transmitting ADS-B signals and unsafe route design for mixed traffic to a lack of FAA and Defense Department (DOD) coordination.
In addition to those concerns, the bill is also designed to address long-term air traffic controller shortages, FAA internal safety management systems, and the need for important post-accident safety reviews.
“It’s time for Congress to get off the bench and solve the problems the NTSB identified because the families deserve action,” Cantwell said. “The DCA tragedy claimed 67 lives and exposed critical gaps in aviation safety oversight—over 15,000 near-misses should have been a glaring warning sign. This legislation closes dangerous loopholes that allowed aircraft to operate without essential safety technology, mandates modern surveillance systems that enhance pilot awareness of nearby aircraft, and ensures the FAA finally acts on the data instead of ignoring it.”
More specifically, the bill ends certain exemptions that the DOD has relied on to turn off ADS-B Out near KDCA and other busy airports. It would further expand the use of ADS-B with mainline and regional airlines. Other measures would mandate a safety review of airspace management around busy airports, with a priority on those with mixed flight traffic. The bill further calls for a review of the FAA’s safety management system across the board and would mandate an automatic Transport Airplane Risk Assessment Methodology analysis after any major, fatal airline crash, regardless of whether the crash was linked to aircraft design or a manufacturing issue.
On the staffing front, the bill would codify the FAA’s Enhanced Air Traffic-Collegiate Training program, targeting 15 participating schools, and protect the FAA from hiring freezes or voluntary buyout programs.
In addition, the bill would expand the FAA’s aviation medical examiner team, create a controller instructor recruitment program, and establish an FAA Oversight Office for Military Aviation Coordination as well as a joint FAA-DOD Council on ADS-B. Also further fostering coordination, it would require aviation safety data sharing between DOD and the FAA.
Supporting the legislation were Tim and Sheri Lilley, parents of first officer Sam Lilley, who was aboard the CRJ-700 involved in the collision. “By introducing legislation today, [Cantwell is] generating significant momentum around an issue that is deeply personal to our family and critical to every passenger, pilot, and crew member in this country,” they said in a joint statement. “This bill addresses many of the systemic failures that contributed to the mid-air tragedy, including requiring a safety review of DCA and other crowded U.S. airspace, as well as improving coordination and data sharing between the FAA and military operators.”
Also backing the bill is Air Line Pilots Association president James Ambrosi. “We commend Senator Cantwell for her leadership in enhancing aviation safety by requiring the use of ADS-B In for air carrier operations and implementing stronger ADS-B Out requirements to give pilots greater situational awareness,” Ambrosi said. “In the wake of the DCA accident, we should use every tool available to prevent additional tragedies. This and other recent incidents have demonstrated the need for providing operators and controllers with additional resources to help delivering passengers and cargo safely, to review safety at DCA and other airports with high-density air traffic operations, and force the FAA and the DOD to jointly mitigate risk in the National Airspace System."

News about bills, laws, regulations and other governmental decisions affecting aviation and aerospace. Topics include FAA re-authorizations, taxes on fuel and aviation activities, environmental legislation, ICAO decisions, governmental mediation of labor conflicts and World Trade Organization disputes and decisions.

Senators Step Up Scrutiny in Aftermath of KDCA Crash

Senate leaders are calling for joint audits, and a bill is introduced covering an array of issues

Two dozen senators have sent a letter seeking concurrent DOT and U.S. Army audits, while 7 have offered a bill to address concerns in the wake of the DCA crash.

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

Curt Epstein

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

The fee increases will go into effect July 1

Bizav Fees at Australia’s Sydney Airport Set to Soar

News about environmental issues relating to aircraft operations, including noise issues, emissisions, and regulations. See Fuel for biofuel.

News and developments about aviation fuel, including jet fuel, aviation gasoline, and biofuel.

News and issues relating to the aerospace industry that are related to the science, engineering and business of flight in space involving civil, industrial and military applications, and similar topics related to flight in the atmosphere of the Earth that are not covered more directly by other AINonline subject channels. In other words, both astronautical and aeronautical subjects, except for those aeronautical topics that are specifically covered elsewhere on this website.

SAF output still not enough to meet needs

IATA Report Urges SAF Policy Changes

Matt Thurber

News and issues relating to international air transport and cargo carriers, national airlines and regional airlines, including aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

After July 7, pilots, mechanics, and other airmen will be subject to enforcement action

Deadline Near for FAA Certificate Holders Outside U.S.

Commerce Committee questioned Bedford on safety, privatization, 1,500-hour rule, and spectrum

FAA Nominee Bedford Calls for Focus First on ATC Upgrade

Charles Alcock

Issues regarding financing of aircraft; aviation insurance; tax issues for aircraft operators; new companies and people in the aviation financing and insurance industries.

Essential news and analysis on the defense aerospace business. Your trusted source for new and ongoing programs and requirements in military aircraft (manned and unmanned), engines, avionics, weapons and associated systems, including ground-based air defense.

2,500 aerospace and defense exhibitors from 48 countries are booked for June 16 to 22 show

Paris Show To Open with Complex Geopolitical Backdrop

Mark Huber

News and issues concerning the aviation charter and fractional-ownership industries and markets, including company announcements, regulations, new developments and labor issues.

Government alleges misappropriation of funds

AeroVanti CEO Indicted on Federal Fraud Charges

News and issues regarding all manner of civil and military rotorcraft and their powerplants, including helicopters, tilt rotors and unmanned air vehicles.

More In Regulations and Government

Bizav Fees at Australia’s Sydney Airport Set to Soar

The fee increases will go into effect July 1

IATA Report Urges SAF Policy Changes

SAF output still not enough to meet needs

Deadline Near for FAA Certificate Holders Outside U.S.

After July 7, pilots, mechanics, and other airmen will be subject to enforcement action

FAA Nominee Bedford Calls for Focus First on ATC Upgrade

Commerce Committee questioned Bedford on safety, privatization, 1,500-hour rule, and spectrum

Paris Show To Open with Complex Geopolitical Backdrop

2,500 aerospace and defense exhibitors from 48 countries are booked for June 16 to 22 show

AeroVanti CEO Indicted on Federal Fraud Charges

Government alleges misappropriation of funds

Ex-Hansen Helicopters CEO Sentenced to 33 Years

CEO was found guilty of fraud related to unapproved aircraft parts

GA Groups Step Up Privacy Push for Operators

Both NBAA and AOPA stressed importance of privacy on Capitol Hill

AIN Products

SUBSCRIPTIONS

RESOURCES

ABOUT AIN