Families who lost loved ones in a midair collision near Reagan National Airport in January say a Senate vote this week gives them hope for safer skies.
Families who lost loved ones in a midair collision near Reagan National Airport in January say a Senate vote this week gives them hope for safer skies.
The Senate unanimously passed the Rotorcraft Operations Transparency and Oversight Reform Act, or ROTOR Act, which will require military aircraft and airlines to share their location using modern technology. This was missing before the January crash between a Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines jetliner, according to Doug Lane, who lost his wife Christine and son Spencer.
“It was quite an emotional roller coaster for us as family members,” Lane said.
Lane told WTOP that the measure closes gaps that contributed to the tragedy by requiring all aircraft to use ADS-B, or Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast technology, to transmit their locations. Investigators say the Army Black Hawk was not sending out its location at the time of the crash.
The bill “fixes both of those problems, closes the loopholes for the military, but also requires the airlines to adopt the technology needed to give their pilots situational awareness,” Lane said.
The legislation comes after families fought to remove language they believe weakened air safety from a recently passed defense bill. Lane said that moment was a shock.
“It was definitely quite disappointing, and … a slap in the face to us,” he said. “We kind of jumped into action to try to get that removed.”
While the Senate voted to pass the bill, Lane says there is still work to be done. The House still needs to pass the measure, and he hopes that happens before Jan. 29, the first anniversary of the crash.
“So even though we did have a big win, we’re not done yet. We’ve got some very important work to do in the House in the coming weeks,” he said.
For Lane and other families, advocacy has become a way to honor loved ones. Through it, they have grown closer by speaking weekly.
“We often say it’s the club that none of us wanted to join, but we’re all incredibly grateful to have met each other and to be here for each other,” Lane said.
But as they continue to fight for change, Lane admits it remains extremely difficult.
“There’s no amount of good that will offset the bad that we’re all feeling. But I know for me, the one thing that does bring me comfort is utilizing the tremendous outpouring of care about our loved ones into any type of good that we can get out of it,” Lane said.
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