The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee will convene on Feb. 12 to hear testimony from National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy after the agency determined that multiple systemic failures at the Federal Aviation Administration played a role in a deadly mid-air collision in January 2025, the committee announced.
The collision involved an American Airlines regional jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) and resulted in 67 fatalities. The NTSB's findings identified a pattern of shortcomings by the FAA that the board linked to the accident.
Committee members plan to question the NTSB chair about the board's conclusions and the nature of the FAA deficiencies cited in the report. The hearing is expected to focus on the NTSB's assessment of the events and on how federal aviation oversight may be improved in response.
Lawmakers intend to use the hearing as part of efforts to secure approval of an air safety reform bill. The legislation has been held up in the U.S. House, and members of the Senate panel are seeking ways to move the measure forward as they review the NTSB's findings.
The January 2025 collision was the deadliest U.S. aviation disaster since November 2001. The incident has prompted heightened scrutiny of aviation safety processes and regulatory oversight, with the Senate committee now scheduling the public session to obtain further detail from the NTSB's leadership.
The hearing will give senators a formal opportunity to examine the NTSB's investigation and to press for clarification on the specific FAA failures the board identified. It will also provide a forum for discussing the legislative response to those findings as the committee considers next steps toward air safety reform.
Details on witnesses beyond the NTSB chair, or on the specific agenda items for the Feb. 12 session, were not provided in the committee announcement. The committee statement limited its description to the scheduled hearing and the intent to review the NTSB's conclusions with the board's chair.
The scheduled testimony and the ongoing legislative push underscore congressional attention to the crash and to federal aviation oversight. The outcome of the hearing could influence the pace and content of legislative efforts, although further developments and votes on the bill were not described in the committee notice.