{"id":23989,"date":"2026-02-13T13:13:59","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T18:13:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/?p=23989"},"modified":"2026-02-17T14:23:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T19:23:52","slug":"wyden-merkley-push-faa-to-implement-emergency-safety-regulations-following-deadly-helicopter-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/wyden-merkley-push-faa-to-implement-emergency-safety-regulations-following-deadly-helicopter-crash\/","title":{"rendered":"Wyden, Merkley Push FAA to Implement Emergency Safety Regulations Following Deadly Helicopter Crash"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Washington DC<\/strong> \u2013 U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today pressed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to explain what it\u2019s doing now to prevent\u00a0another deadly helicopter crash like the one last month in Arizona that killed four Oregonians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><strong>\u201cWhile a thorough investigation is necessary to develop comprehensive, data-based recommendations, it\u2019s clear that immediate action must be taken to prevent another similar tragedy<\/strong>,\u201d the senators wrote in their letter to FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford. \u201c<strong>As the investigation proceeds, we urge you to continue working closely with the NTSB and promptly adopt initial safety suggestions they may have based on their preliminary findings.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>On January 2, 2026 a helicopter carrying four family members from Oregon struck a slackline suspended across Telegraph Canyon in the Tonto National Forest in Arizona. Everyone on board was killed.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued its initial findings from its investigation into the crash on January 21, 2026. The full investigation could take over a year to complete. As a result, Wyden and Merkley pressed the FAA over what immediate actions could be taken to prevent such tragedies in the future. Specifically, they asked:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Please describe how the FAA currently regulates slackline visibility and notifications for pilots.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In light of this tragic helicopter crash, what are you doing to ensure awareness of existing FAA regulations regarding marking and notifications of obstructions? How will you work with other agencies and organizations to share these policies?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Are you considering any immediate adjustments to FAA policies in order to increase the physical marking or visibility of slacklines? Are there any options the FAA could explore related to the standardized marking, lighting, or other visual measures that would allow slacklines to be more easily identified by pilots during both daytime and nighttime operations?\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Will the FAA consider implementing a Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) over slacklines as a precautionary and interim measure until the NTSB issues final recommendations? What factors does the FAA consider in making TFR determinations?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>La carta completa se encuentra <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wyden.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/letter_to_faa_re_helicopter_crash.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">aqu\u00ed.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">###<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today pressed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to explain what it\u2019s doing now to prevent\u00a0another deadly helicopter crash like the one last month in Arizona that killed four Oregonians. \u201cWhile a thorough investigation is necessary to develop comprehensive, data-based recommendations, it\u2019s clear that immediate action [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":18847,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[118],"class_list":["post-23989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases","tag-delivering-for-oregon"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Wyden, Merkley Push FAA to Implement Emergency Safety Regulations Following Deadly Helicopter Crash - Merkley<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/wyden-merkley-push-faa-to-implement-emergency-safety-regulations-following-deadly-helicopter-crash\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_MX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wyden, Merkley Push FAA to Implement Emergency Safety Regulations Following Deadly Helicopter Crash - Merkley\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Washington, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today pressed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to explain what it\u2019s doing now to prevent\u00a0another deadly helicopter crash like the one last month in Arizona that killed four Oregonians. \u201cWhile a thorough investigation is necessary to develop comprehensive, data-based recommendations, it\u2019s clear that immediate action [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/wyden-merkley-push-faa-to-implement-emergency-safety-regulations-following-deadly-helicopter-crash\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Merkley\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-13T18:13:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-17T19:23:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/Updated-Release-Photo-4.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kelly Park\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kelly Park\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-push-faa-to-implement-emergency-safety-regulations-following-deadly-helicopter-crash\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-push-faa-to-implement-emergency-safety-regulations-following-deadly-helicopter-crash\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kelly Park\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/#\/schema\/person\/a81fd3a5f0745aa100fe55611dae0d08\"},\"headline\":\"Wyden, Merkley Push FAA to Implement Emergency Safety Regulations Following Deadly Helicopter Crash\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-13T18:13:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-17T19:23:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-push-faa-to-implement-emergency-safety-regulations-following-deadly-helicopter-crash\/\"},\"wordCount\":349,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-push-faa-to-implement-emergency-safety-regulations-following-deadly-helicopter-crash\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/Updated-Release-Photo-4.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Delivering for Oregon\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Press Releases\"],\"inLanguage\":\"es-MX\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-push-faa-to-implement-emergency-safety-regulations-following-deadly-helicopter-crash\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-push-faa-to-implement-emergency-safety-regulations-following-deadly-helicopter-crash\/\",\"name\":\"Wyden, Merkley Push FAA to Implement Emergency Safety Regulations Following Deadly Helicopter Crash - Merkley\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-push-faa-to-implement-emergency-safety-regulations-following-deadly-helicopter-crash\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-push-faa-to-implement-emergency-safety-regulations-following-deadly-helicopter-crash\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/Updated-Release-Photo-4.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-13T18:13:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-17T19:23:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/#\/schema\/person\/a81fd3a5f0745aa100fe55611dae0d08\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-push-faa-to-implement-emergency-safety-regulations-following-deadly-helicopter-crash\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"es-MX\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-push-faa-to-implement-emergency-safety-regulations-following-deadly-helicopter-crash\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"es-MX\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-push-faa-to-implement-emergency-safety-regulations-following-deadly-helicopter-crash\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/Updated-Release-Photo-4.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/Updated-Release-Photo-4.png\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"Senator Jeff Merkley.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-push-faa-to-implement-emergency-safety-regulations-following-deadly-helicopter-crash\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Wyden, Merkley Push FAA to Implement Emergency Safety Regulations Following Deadly Helicopter Crash\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/\",\"name\":\"Merkley\",\"description\":\"Merkley\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"es-MX\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/#\/schema\/person\/a81fd3a5f0745aa100fe55611dae0d08\",\"name\":\"Kelly Park\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"es-MX\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/df002e03ab4232ba73dea7f0e494bbdae1279b3751502c63dc78013d4e8c40f4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/df002e03ab4232ba73dea7f0e494bbdae1279b3751502c63dc78013d4e8c40f4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/df002e03ab4232ba73dea7f0e494bbdae1279b3751502c63dc78013d4e8c40f4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kelly Park\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/author\/kelly-park\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Wyden, Merkley Push FAA to Implement Emergency Safety Regulations Following Deadly Helicopter Crash - Merkley","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/wyden-merkley-push-faa-to-implement-emergency-safety-regulations-following-deadly-helicopter-crash\/","og_locale":"es_MX","og_type":"article","og_title":"Wyden, Merkley Push FAA to Implement Emergency Safety Regulations Following Deadly Helicopter Crash - Merkley","og_description":"Washington, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today pressed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to explain what it\u2019s doing now to prevent\u00a0another deadly helicopter crash like the one last month in Arizona that killed four Oregonians. \u201cWhile a thorough investigation is necessary to develop comprehensive, data-based recommendations, it\u2019s clear that immediate action [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/wyden-merkley-push-faa-to-implement-emergency-safety-regulations-following-deadly-helicopter-crash\/","og_site_name":"Merkley","article_published_time":"2026-02-13T18:13:59+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-17T19:23:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/Updated-Release-Photo-4.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Kelly Park","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kelly Park","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-push-faa-to-implement-emergency-safety-regulations-following-deadly-helicopter-crash\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-push-faa-to-implement-emergency-safety-regulations-following-deadly-helicopter-crash\/"},"author":{"name":"Kelly Park","@id":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/#\/schema\/person\/a81fd3a5f0745aa100fe55611dae0d08"},"headline":"Wyden, Merkley Push FAA to Implement Emergency Safety Regulations Following Deadly Helicopter Crash","datePublished":"2026-02-13T18:13:59+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-17T19:23:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-push-faa-to-implement-emergency-safety-regulations-following-deadly-helicopter-crash\/"},"wordCount":349,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-push-faa-to-implement-emergency-safety-regulations-following-deadly-helicopter-crash\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/Updated-Release-Photo-4.png","keywords":["Delivering for Oregon"],"articleSection":["Press Releases"],"inLanguage":"es-MX"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-push-faa-to-implement-emergency-safety-regulations-following-deadly-helicopter-crash\/","url":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-push-faa-to-implement-emergency-safety-regulations-following-deadly-helicopter-crash\/","name":"Wyden, Merkley Push FAA to Implement Emergency Safety Regulations Following Deadly Helicopter Crash - Merkley","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-push-faa-to-implement-emergency-safety-regulations-following-deadly-helicopter-crash\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-push-faa-to-implement-emergency-safety-regulations-following-deadly-helicopter-crash\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/Updated-Release-Photo-4.png","datePublished":"2026-02-13T18:13:59+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-17T19:23:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/#\/schema\/person\/a81fd3a5f0745aa100fe55611dae0d08"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-push-faa-to-implement-emergency-safety-regulations-following-deadly-helicopter-crash\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"es-MX","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-push-faa-to-implement-emergency-safety-regulations-following-deadly-helicopter-crash\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"es-MX","@id":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-push-faa-to-implement-emergency-safety-regulations-following-deadly-helicopter-crash\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/Updated-Release-Photo-4.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/Updated-Release-Photo-4.png","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"Senator Jeff Merkley."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-push-faa-to-implement-emergency-safety-regulations-following-deadly-helicopter-crash\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Wyden, Merkley Push FAA to Implement Emergency Safety Regulations Following Deadly Helicopter Crash"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/","name":"merkley","description":"merkley","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"es-MX"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/#\/schema\/person\/a81fd3a5f0745aa100fe55611dae0d08","name":"Kelly Park","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"es-MX","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/df002e03ab4232ba73dea7f0e494bbdae1279b3751502c63dc78013d4e8c40f4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/df002e03ab4232ba73dea7f0e494bbdae1279b3751502c63dc78013d4e8c40f4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/df002e03ab4232ba73dea7f0e494bbdae1279b3751502c63dc78013d4e8c40f4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kelly Park"},"url":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/author\/kelly-park\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23989"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23992,"href":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23989\/revisions\/23992"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}