NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy took a rare foray into politics on Wednesday and slammed Congress for wiping out safety provisions made in the wake of last January’s collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and a regional airliner that killed 67 people at Reagan National Airport. Based on NTSB recommendations made during the initial investigation, helicopter routes were changed and rules established to keep them away from active runways, but the National Defense Authorization Act essentially rolls back all those changes, which Homendy said the board “vehemently” opposes.
In a letter to senior congressional officials, the NTSB noted the decision to allow the Army to resume training missions like the one that contributed to the collision on Jan. 29 by allowing military aircraft to operate without ADS-B. The provision, buried deep in the NDAA, allows generals or flag officers to order the transponders turned off if they believe it to be in the national interest. Homendy said that’s giving the Army free rein to “do whatever they want in the DC airspace.” The NDAA passed with strong bipartisan support, and it would appear the ADS-B measure is still in there.
.Congress and the Pentagon fixed the problem, then decided it was inconvenient and put it back the way it was.
In a perfect world, the ones who voted for this measure should be the only ones flying out of DCA, and the only ones risking their lives in this ill-advised mix of flying objects.
If my ADS-B is on, theirs should be on. Can’t imagine any training where it would be an advantage to the training if the aircraft is invisible or primary.
… but what if they want to shoot missiles at drug-running speedboats on the Potomac?