Senator Marshall Cosponsors Amendment to Protect DC Skies from DOD Use
Washington – On Thursday, U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kansas), announced he is cosponsoring a bipartisan amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would strike Section 373 and replace it with the ROTOR Act, legislation designed to strengthen the safety standards for defense aircraft operating in the Washington, D.C. airspace, an issue that is deeply personal to those effected by American flight 5342 and all Kansans.
As currently written, Section 373 would permit certain Department of Defense aircraft to reenter the Reagan National Airport (DCA) airspace, provided that the aircraft has proximity warnings compatible with commercial aircraft. This change would revert safety measures back to where they were before the tragic January 29th crash, without implementing any new guardrails.
Senator Marshall said that the current language falls short of the safety standards that the region requires.
“The NDAA provision is incredibly problematic, and we cannot maintain a status quo that puts travelers and our servicemembers at risk,” said Senator Marshall. “Replacing it with the ROTOR Act is the only responsible path forward. We owe it to the 67 lives lost in the DCA crash to ensure a tragedy like that never happens again.”
The amendment is being filed by Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Washington).
These concerns were underscored in a strongly worded letter sent this week by National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees. In the letter, Homendy warned that Section 373 “would not have prevented the January 29 accident, nor would it improve the safety environment that exists today.”
