The Rotorcraft Operations Transparency and Oversight Reform (ROTOR) was rejected by the House of Representatives on Tuesday afternoon.
A two-thirds majority was required for the bill to pass under a fast-track procedure. More than 130 Republicans voted against it, according to Politico. While the bill can still be approved, it will now need to go through the standard legislative process, which is a much longer process.
The ROTOR Act was approved by the Senate back in Dec. 2025. It was introduced by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in July 2025. The act was made in response to the Potomac midair collision in Jan. 2025, when an American Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 collided with a military Black Hawk helicopter while on approach to the Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), killing 67 people. The helicopter was not using ADS-B at the time of the crash and the Bombardier was only equipped to transmit, not receive ADS-B data. The legislation is backed by victims’ families, labor groups and NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy.
It would require all aircraft transmitting to transmit and receive ADS-B data to avoid collision. Supporters of ROTOR have quoted the NTSB’s conclusion that ADS-B In could have provided earlier warning to flight crews, according to Avweb, but opponents claim the act only addresses one of the NTSB’s major recommendations.
“The best way to serve and honor the victims and their families is by thoughtfully addressing the broad range of safety issues raised by the now-complete accident investigation, and that’s just what the ALERT Act does,” said Transportation Committee Chair Sam Graves, a Missouri Republican. “The ROTOR Act touches on only two of the NTSB’s 50 recommendations and provides an overly prescriptive approach to mandating a specific technology, which is still largely under development, in a manner that can prove burdensome to some operators and create barriers to its adoption.”
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The ALERT Act is a competing bill introduced by Graves. The ALERT Act would not require ADS-B transmission on every aircraft, and instead would have a rulemaking committee look at collision mitigation technology and could exempt many aircraft, according to CNN. Graves has argued that the requirement would be a burden on general aviation. Relatives of those killed in the crash have argued that ADS-B would have saved the lives of their loved ones and exceptions are what cause the crash in the first place. NTSB says many of the measures in ALERT fall short of addressing its concerns.
NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy has said the Transportation and Armed Services committees didn’t run the ALERT Act text by her before unveiling it. She said she hopes the House and NTSB can work together to improve the ALERT Act, but it does not work in its current form.
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