Hearing Report: Senate Aviation Subcommittee Hearing on DCA Safety Recommendations Includes Discussion of PAPA Issues

May 19, 2026

Today, Senate Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Aviation held a hearing on NTSB safety recommendations from the DCA crash with testimony from FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford. The subcommittee questioned the Federal Aviation Administration’s response to National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommendations following the deadly January 29, 2025 mid‑air collision near Washington National Airport (DCA), in which 67 people were killed when a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter collided with American Airlines Flight 5342. Senators pressed the Administrator on FAA’s pace and completeness in implementing 35 NTSB safety recommendations, the agency’s safety culture, air traffic controller staffing, and modernization of the national airspace system.

Members, including Subcommittee Chairman Jerry Moran (R-KS), Ranking Member Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and full committee Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-WA), repeatedly stressed that the DCA crash was “entirely preventable” and highlighted systemic failures: inadequate response to prior NTSB recommendations, overreliance on visual separation between helicopters and airliners in congested airspace, and chronic controller understaffing and fatigue. Bedford outlined FAA’s post‑accident measures, including restricting helicopter operations around DCA, eliminating certain mixed‑traffic procedures, issuing a general notice to end use of visual separation between helicopters and fixed‑wing aircraft in Class B/C and TRACON airspace, and beginning broader ATC modernization and reorganization. Senators remained skeptical that FAA is acting with sufficient urgency or fully embracing all NTSB recommendations.

Discussion of ADS-B for Tax and Fee Collection:

Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-MT) raised the use of ADS-B technology for tax and fee collection during an exchange with Administrator Bedford. Sheehy, a pilot, claimed ADS‑B should be treated solely as a safety tool and questioned any use of its data for fee or tax collection arguing that any use of ADS-B for revenue collection creates a “perverse incentive” for operators to evade ADS-B usage, including turning it off and thereby undermining safety. Sheehy urged examination by both FAA and Congress of whether it should be “illegal” to use ADS‑B safety data for fee and tax collection.

In response, Bedford agreed that it should not be used for fee collection and stated that FAA already “frowns on” the use of ADS‑B information for revenue collection at airports and told AAAE conference attendees as much. He acknowledged Sheehy’s concern about incentives and indicated a willingness for FAA to “step up” how aggressively it discourages such practices.

Additional Information:

Video of the hearing and FAA Administrator Bedford’s testimony can be found here.