NTSB urges Congress to resolve aviation bill during recess

National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy urged Congress on July 27, 2026, to work through unresolved aviation-safety legislation during the August recess after lawmakers left Washington without passing a final bill.

The NTSB said a final package could be brought to a vote when Congress returns in September. The legislative dispute is connected to open recommendations arising from the January 2025 midair collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which killed 67 people.

Congress leaves without a final bill

Homendy’s statement called on lawmakers to continue addressing their differences while Congress is out of session. The appeal came after Congress departed for the August recess without acting on a final aviation-safety package.

The statement identifies the recess as the next period for congressional work on the unresolved legislation. It also points to September as the next possible opportunity for formal action, when lawmakers are expected to return and could vote on a completed package.

The NTSB’s action is a request to Congress rather than a change in federal law. No final aviation-safety bill had been enacted as of Homendy’s statement, and the agency did not say that lawmakers had agreed on the provisions that would appear in a final package.

Legislation follows a fatal Washington-area collision

The policy debate follows the NTSB’s investigation context for the January 2025 midair collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The accident killed 67 people, making the recommendations tied to the investigation the central safety context for Homendy’s call to Congress.

The NTSB referred to open recommendations in its July 27 statement. Those recommendations remain part of a legislative debate that has not produced a final law. The statement did not resolve the differences among lawmakers or identify which provisions from competing proposals would be included in any eventual package.

Reuters also reported that Homendy was urging Congress to pass aviation-safety legislation and linked the dispute to findings from the January 2025 collision. The issue therefore extends beyond a single congressional vote: it concerns federal aviation-safety policy and reforms connected to a federal investigation into a fatal accident.

September is the next identified checkpoint

The immediate next step is for lawmakers to work on the legislation during the August recess. If they reach agreement, the NTSB said a final package could be voted on after Congress returns in September 2026.

That timing gives the legislation a clear next checkpoint, but not a guaranteed outcome. Homendy’s statement urges action; it does not establish that Congress will reach an agreement, that a vote will occur, or that any eventual measure will become law.

The unresolved legislation matters to federal aviation policy and the U.S. national airspace system because it concerns safety reforms arising from the 67-fatality collision. For now, the status of the proposals remains unsettled, with congressional action after the August recess the next identified opportunity for lawmakers to decide whether to advance a final package.