*

House panel investigates military airspace use after fatal

collision

*

Lawmakers question lack of safety system in Army

helicopter

*

Senators urge Army to testify on safety system usage

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, March 13 (Reuters) - A U.S. House of

Representatives oversight subcommittee said on Thursday it is

investigating the collision in January between an Army Black

Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines ( AAL ) regional jet

that killed 67 people near Ronald Reagan Washington National

Airport.

The House Oversight subcommittee on Military and Foreign

Affairs said they are probing the crash and the military's use

of airspace in the U.S. capital region.

They asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to detail the steps

the military "is taking to ensure that this type of accident

does not happen again." Many lawmakers want to know why the Army

helicopter was not using a key safety system at the time of the

Jan. 29 collision.

Republican U.S. Representative William Timmons, who chairs the

subcommittee, and the panel's top Democrat, Suhas Subramanyam,

also want to know why the pilot was wearing night vision goggles

for a routine training flight and a list of steps the Defense

Department "is taking to ensure military operations do not

interfere with the safety of American air travel and steps to

prevent this incident from reoccurring."

The Pentagon said it would respond directly to the

lawmakers.

On Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board made an

urgent safety recommendation that was quickly adopted by

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to make permanent

restrictions to prevent helicopters from flying near Washington

Reagan when two lesser-used runways are operational.

Two senators this week asked the U.S. Army to explain why it

routinely failed to use a key safety system during helicopter

training flights.

Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz and Senator Jerry

Moran, who heads an aviation subcommittee, on Tuesday also urged

the head of Army Aviation to answer questions about the

collision and to testify at a March 27 hearing on the crash.

The Black Hawk did not have a key safety system known as

ADS-B operating at the time of the collision, investigators

say.

ADS-B, or automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast, is an

advanced surveillance technology that transmits an aircraft's

location.

U.S. airline group Airlines for America last week called for

military aircraft to be required to use ADS-B near large

airports to broadcast their position to avoid collisions.

The senators also wanted to know how often the Army

transports flag officers by helicopter and how often it turns

off ADS-B, an action permitted for military aircraft.

Civilian airplanes must use ADS-B to broadcast their

location, but the Federal Aviation Administration in 2019 gave

the military an exemption in rare circumstances. It appears the

military is routinely failing to use the safety system in

training flights, lawmakers say.