WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—Ranking Member of the Senate Subcommittee on Aviation, Space and Innovation—today lambasted the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for its failure to carry out key safety procedures, maintain crucial inter-agency communications with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and address the air traffic controller (ATC) shortage leading up to the tragic, but preventable, DCA mid-air collision. During today’s hearing with National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chair Jennifer Homendy, Duckworth stressed the urgent need for the FAA to heed her yearslong calls to invest in our ATC workforce and equipment and improve inter-agency communication to protect the flying public. Video of Duckworth’s remarks are available on the Senator’s YouTube.
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“Many of the NTSB’s findings from the DCA mid-air collision point to issues that have persisted for years, and I’ve been sounding the alarm on them for years,” said Duckworth. “There is an unacceptable culture of complacency at the FAA. The agency’s failure in the face of blaring alarm bells proved that it was a matter of when—not if—one of the near misses at DCA would become a deadly tragedy.”
“We’ve long known about the mounting strain on air traffic controllers, and we must ensure any investment in our ATC system prioritizes its most important asset—its people,” continued Duckworth. “The House needs to pass the ROTOR Act so we can codify the NTSB’s recommendations, but even if that happens, we have much more work to do.”
Duckworth is a leading voice in the push to make our skies safer. For years, she has been soundingthe alarm that we must make critical aviation safety investments immediately to prevent all-too-often near-misses from becoming catastrophic tragedies. Two months ago, Duckworth pushed for long-term funding certainty for ATC modernization and impressed upon FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford to invest in both training and equipment upgrades in the modernization project. Last Congress, Duckworth chaired two CST Aviation Subcommittee hearings—one in December 2024 and the other a year prior—to address our aviation industry’s chilling surge in near-deadly close calls and underscore the urgent need to improve air traffic control systems to protect the flying public.
Duckworth helped author the bipartisan FAA reauthorization that was signed into law in 2024 to extend the FAA’s funding and authorities through Fiscal Year 2028. The reauthorization included several of her provisions to safeguard the 1,500-hour rule, improve consumer safety, expand the aviation workforce and enhance protections for travelers with disabilities.
