New Bill Would Force Army Helicopters To Keep Flight Tracking On

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Senator Ted Cruz, president of nan Senate Commerce Committee, is introducing a caller measure that would "close nan regulatory loophole" that allows subject craft to move disconnected cardinal formation search technology. This is successful consequence to the fatal clang of an Army Black Hawk chopper pinch American Airlines Flight 5342 successful January, during which nan Black Hawk had its location-signaling ADS-B strategy switched off. Since nan crash, Cruz has zeroed successful connected this strategy arsenic a cardinal information vulnerability that needs to beryllium addressed and has been fighting pinch nan Army astir it ever since, moreover accusing nan subject of hiding nan truth from nan public.

In addition, nan Rotorcraft Operations Transparency and Oversight Reform measure (ROTOR, get it?) will unit a reappraisal of chopper flightpaths adjacent airports, per CNN. A main contributor to nan clang was nan truth that nan Black Hawk flew crossed nan landing way for nan adjacent Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. If that seems for illustration a vulnerable point to do, you'd beryllium right: The New York Times reports location has been 1 adjacent collision betwixt a chopper and an airplane each azygous period betwixt 2011 and 2024 astatine this azygous airdrome alone. That's location astir 150 incidents astatine 1 airport.

So possibly rerouting helicopters isn't a crazy point to do, though fixed really congested Washington airspace is, that's easier said than done. But different contributing facet was that it was difficult to show wherever nan chopper really was, since its ADS-B was switched off. What's more, this was done legally and connected purpose, arsenic per subject protocol. The Pentagon doesn't look to want to alteration that, and Cruz is going into afloat meltdown complete it.

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ADS-B stands for Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, an onboard strategy that sends and receives accusation astir craft positions to nan public. This is really 2 abstracted components: ADS-B In, which collects accusation from different aircraft, and ADS-B Out, which transmits that peculiar aircraft's position to everyone else. The second is akin to a transponder, a different strategy that does astir nan aforesaid thing. The large quality is that a transponder only signals each 10 seconds aliases so, whereas ADS-B does truthful each second.

In 2010, nan FAA required that each craft that had ADS-B Out installed, whether civilian aliases military, were required to person it connected astatine each times. This would springiness aerial postulation controllers second-by-second formation tracking. By 2020, each craft were required to get it installed, truthful nan system's usage would beryllium universal.

Or would it? In 2019, nether unit from nan Pentagon, the FAA revised nan rule. As you mightiness imagine, subject craft flying delicate missions don't precisely want to broadcast their location. ADS-B is an unfastened protocol, truthful anybody pinch nan liking and nan correct instrumentality tin way it. So an objection was made to fto nan subject move it disconnected connected missions of nationalist information — aliases training missions of nationalist security, which do hap beautiful frequently. In fact, nan January clang was one.

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On January 29, an Army Black Hawk flew a training workout simulating a "continuity of government" mission, per nan Army Times. Basically, nan unit needed to drill nan anticipation of rescuing a authorities fig from an attack. Government figures thin to beryllium successful Washington, DC, which is why nan Black Hawk flew done there.

As nan Times lays retired successful a elaborate report, nan ADS-B was switched disconnected arsenic portion of nan training exercise, which was ineligible nether nan FAA's revised rule. That meant nan adjacent National Airport's aerial postulation controller didn't person second-by-second formation search connected nan helicopter. As nan Army later pointed out, it did still person its old-school transponder on, truthful it wasn't wholly invisible, and it was successful power interaction pinch nan controller.

However, that controller was double-booked, handling some chopper and level postulation simultaneously. That's not modular procedure, but it was astir apt necessitated by the shortage of controllers this state is suffering from. As portion of that, nan controller allowed nan aviator to spell to ocular separation, which intends nan aviator was free to conscionable visually look astir for planes alternatively of getting circumstantial instructions from nan tower. While we whitethorn ne'er cognize nan details, it appears nan aviator conscionable did not spot nan level it collapsed into.

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As president of nan Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees transportation, Cruz is successful complaint of nan investigation into nan accident. And boy, is he ever mad. While he does besides bring up issues for illustration flightpaths, he seems to person peculiarly fixated connected nan ADS-B system, and specifically, nan Pentagon's objection from it. A period aft nan incident, he said location was "no compelling nationalist information logic for ADS-B to beryllium turned off." The subject didn't precisely work together here; its stance is that it has to beryllium capable to drill nether nan aforesaid conditions arsenic nan existent thing.

Then successful March, Cruz and different senators asked nan Army for a transcript of its memo outlining really it uses (or doesn't use) ADS-B. The Army, apparently, refused, according to Reuters. That did not spell complete good pinch nan legislator from Texas, who lashed retired by asking, "What doesn't nan Army want Congress aliases nan American group to cognize astir why it was flying partially blind?" He past threatened nan astir powerful equipped unit connected world pinch a subpoena.

The Army yet relented successful April, handing nan memo over. From there, it was wished that nan Army "hardly if ever" had ADS-B switched connected during Washington flights. If ever! So now, pinch his ROTOR Act, Cruz is coming for nan FAA's regulation by trying to override it pinch legislation. The measure would require nan subject to usage nan formation search strategy if nan ngo goes anyplace adjacent civilian planes. That's a changeable fired consecutive astatine nan Army, who astir apt aren't going to for illustration being told to broadcast its helicopters' locations each nan time.

There's a agelong measurement to spell earlier nan measure becomes law, of course. It's not moreover clear that having ADS-B connected would person prevented January's tragedy; nan aviator was successful ocular separation anyway. But for sure, 1 adjacent miss per period is an unsustainable situation, and thing has to change.