A North Carolina U.S. Senator introduced a bill last week to improve aviation safety in the nation’s capital and around the country, in the aftermath of the January collision near Reagan Washington National Airport.
U.S. Senator Ted Budd said the ROTOR Act would establish new requirements for virtually all aircraft to use Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast -- technology that allows aircraft to accurately communicate their location with greater precision than traditional radar.
Sen. Budd said six out of the 67 souls that lost their lives that day were North Carolinians, or North Carolina connected, including all four members of the Charlotte-based flight crew and one of the helicopter pilots.
He said the bill is intended to make the air traffic control system and U.S. airspace a lot safer, by closing a loophole that permits the Department of Defense to fly aircraft domestically without having to use “ADS-B Out” technology.
