Critics: National Defense Act Could Undermine D.C. Airspace Safety

Critics Say NDAA Could Undermine D.C. Airspace Safety

Legislation would allow waivers for transponder use, and it doesn’t require ADS-B

Reagan National Airport helicopter zone and route modifications — While the FAA did modify helicopter routes in the D.C. area, critics argue that new legislation would eliminate some of the safety improvements that were implemented after the January 29 midair collision.

By Matt Thurber • Editor-in-Chief

December 11, 2025

NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy has raised an alarm over language in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that critics claim would allow the military to bypass safety protocols enacted after the January 29 midair collision between a CRJ700 operating as PSA Airlines Flight 5342 and a U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter near Washington, D.C., in which 67 people were killed. The NDAA passed in the House on Wednesday by 312-112 and is set to go to the Senate by year-end.

According to section 373(a) of the NDAA, “Except as provided in subsection (b), the Secretary of a military department may not authorize any manned rotary wing aircraft of the Department of Defense [now the Department of War] to operate a training mission in a covered airspace unless such aircraft, while being operated, is actively providing warning of the proximity of such aircraft to nearby commercial aircraft in a manner compatible with the traffic alert and collision avoidance system [TCAS] of such commercial aircraft.”

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