(11/10) Additional note: Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) have introduced an amendment to strike this section of the bill. The worry is that the Senate will turn it down in order to avoid a drawn-out amendment process. This must not be allowed to happen.

(10/10) If this bill passes as written, will you fly into DCA? Personally, I will have second thoughts.

(9/10) I’m posting about this to raise awareness of the fact that the US Department of Defense, over bipartisan opposition, appears to be attempting to stop or reverse any effort that has been made to rectify the dangerous situation that existed before the tragic collision.

(8/10) NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy gave a press conference yesterday urging lawmakers to strike the provision from the bill, and prominent lawmakers from both parties have voiced opposition to the provision. However, we still don’t know who inserted it, and the bill passed the House unchanged.

(7/10) While the right to waive ADS-B doesn’t mean the right to waive the requirement for a traffic collision avoidance system, TCAS is partially inhibited below 900 feet and fully inhibited below 400 feet, where the Jan. 29 collision occurred. ADS-B is not.

(6/10) Passing the bill with this provision intact will allow military aircraft to fly right through the DCA approach areas without appearing on airliners’ traffic displays.

(5/10) The provision doesn’t require that this risk assessment be undertaken by an expert on commercial aviation, nor does the assessment have to involve input from the FAA or commercial operators using the airspace. So it’s completely toothless.

(4/10) They may grant such permission if the mission is “in the national security interests of the United States,” which is meaningless because any mission can be deemed as such. Furthermore, it requires a “commercial aviation compatibility risk assessment,” a term that isn’t defined anywhere.

(3/10) This provision allows the secretary of a military department, or a delegated general or flag officer, to permit military aircraft to fly training missions through heavily trafficked DCA airspace without ADS-B anti-collision technology.

(2/10) Basically, the current draft of the National Defense Authorization Act making its way through Congress contains a provision to roll back the safety improvements made after the DCA mid-air and make the situation as bad as it was on Jan. 29.