Senate approves bill inspired by DC plane crash to ensure military aircraft will broadcast location

The Senate moved quickly Wednesday afternoon to close a loophole that could allow military aircraft to fly without broadcasting their locations just like an Army helicopter was doing last January before it collided with an airliner over Washington, D.C., killing 67 people.Just hours after passing a massive defense bill that included the worrisome provisions about military flights, the Senate approved a bipartisan bill that will require all aircraft use ADS-B technology — or Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast technology — to broadcast their locations.Republican Sen.

Ted Cruz said that “tragedy could have been avoided” if the Army Black Hawk had been using its ADS-B system to broadcast its location before the crash.It is not clear exactly when the ROTOR act that Cruz and Democratic Sen.Maria Cantwell both support will be taken up by the House and whether changes will be made.

But Cruz said that the White House supports the version that passed the Senate Wednesday and promised to help get it approved.Cruz said he is optimistic the bill could head to the president's desk as soon as next month.

Republican leaders decided not to delay the defense bill by amending it to address the flight safety concerns because doing that would have sent the bill back to the House for another vote.The final report on the crash won't be completed until sometime next year.But Cruz said it makes sense to take this step now to force the military to operate under the same rules as airliners do around Washington, D.C., after the National Transportation Safety Board found 85 near misses in the three years before the crash.Popular ReadsRob Reiner's son arrested for murder in stabbing death of famed director, wifeDec 15, 6:39 PMSusie Wiles seems to criticize Bondi, Vance and talks Trump in Vanity FairDec 16, 5:12 PMTrump admin live updates: Trump pardons former entertainment exec indicted by own DOJDec 4, 6:23 AMThe NTSB has been recommending requiring these locator systems f...