Alsobrooks, Van Hollen & DC, Virginia Lawmakers Seek Answers from FAA Following Deadly DCA Collision

WASHINGTON,DC– Today, U.S. Senators Angela Alsobrooks and Chris Van Hollen (both D-Md.) joined Senator Mark Warner, Senator Tim Kaine (both D-Va.), and others in sending a letter requesting answers and commitments from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on its plans to protect the flying public in the wake of the January 29 collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines airplane. In the letter, the lawmakers applauded the precautionary safety measures put in place by the FAA in response to the collision, as well as the agency’s collaboration with the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) investigation into the causes and factors behind the collision. They also stressed the need to carefully review existing protocols to ensure that flight operations do not simply return to business as usual.
The lawmakers also expressed serious concern with potential interference with the FAA by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has caused mayhem across the government, from attempting to push out nonpartisan civil servants, to reportedly accessing the U.S. Treasury’s payment system, as well as systems at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
“While we applaud FAA for early actions taken to bolster safety, recent actions indicate that your agency is inviting inexperienced individuals with intense partisan leanings into a process that should be objective and expert driven,”wrote the lawmakers, citing atweet from Elon Musk.“We are extremely concerned that an ad hoc team of individuals lacking any expertise, exposure, certifications, or knowledge of aviation operations being invited, or inserting themselves, to make ‘rapid’ changes to our nation’s air traffic systems. This the wrong course of action to take.”
They continued,“We want the safest skies in the world, and any efforts to weaken standards will not be tolerated. Aviation safety is not an area to ‘move fast and break things’. Proven, methodical, and deliberate action is what is called for when any changes are considered to safety. We express in the strongest possible terms our alarm at allowing Musk’s cadre of unvetted, untrained, and unaccountable individuals the ability to make changes to complicated and sensitive FAA policies at a time when serious and knowledgeable people should be in charge.”
The lawmakers demanded a swift response to the following questions:
In addition to Senators Alsobrooks, Van Hollen, Kaine, and Warner the letter was signed by U.S. Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Don Beyer, Gerald Connolly, Suhas Subramanyam (all D-Va.), and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-Dc.).
A copy of the letter isavailable here.
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