*

Bill would require ADS-B by end of 2031 after push by

Senator

Cantwell

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Senators also want new audit, safety reviews after fatal

accident killed 67

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Legislation would also require Army use of key technology

on

flights

(Updates with comments from airlines, families, NTSB and

senator, and adds details from paragraph 6)

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, Oct 21 (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate panel

approved aviation safety legislation on Tuesday to require the

use of advanced aircraft-tracking technology, after the January

collision of an American Airlines ( AAL ) regional jet and an

Army helicopter that killed 67 people.

The legislation would mandate that all civilian aircraft, as

well as military helicopters near civilian planes, be equipped

with ADS-B technology by the end of 2031. It would also boost

the oversight of mixed jet and helicopter traffic and flight

routes near commercial service airports.

The Army Black Hawk helicopter in the fatal crash was not

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

advanced surveillance technology that transmits an aircraft's

location.

Senate Commerce Committee chair Ted Cruz said the bill

"closes a dangerous loophole that allowed military aircraft to

operate in domestic skies without communicating their position

quickly and accurately to other aviators like commercial

aircraft do."

Lawmakers from both parties and Transportation Secretary

Sean Duffy have questioned why the Federal Aviation

Administration failed to act for years to address close calls

involving military helicopters near Washington Reagan National

Airport.

The legislation would require safety reviews at Reagan

National and other major airports and would direct the Army

Inspector General's Office to initiate a safety coordination

audit.

The FAA in April said it would require ADS-B use near

Reagan National by government helicopters, and in May barred the

Army from helicopter flights around the Pentagon after a close

call. The FAA has also taken steps to boost separation between

helicopters and jets.

National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer

Homendy praised the bill, noting that the board had urged

requiring ADS-B for three decades.

Senator Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on the committee,

pushed hard for an ADS-B deadline in 2031 and said it would

"increase situational awareness and provide traffic advisories

and alerting for operations in the air and on the ground at the

airport."

Cantwell cited an NTSB disclosure in March that since 2021

there had been 15,200 air separation incidents near Reagan

National between commercial airplanes and helicopters, including

85 close-call events.

Families of those killed in the mid-air collision praised

the legislation.

American Airlines ( AAL ) said it strongly supports the bipartisan

bill while United Airlines said it would work with

lawmakers "to make sure this bill accomplishes our shared

goals."