ALEXANDRIA, VA – Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) called on the Federal Aviation Administration to suspend its use of a new artificial intelligence air traffic management tool the Trump administration is debuting in Washington metropolitan area airspace.
"The FAA should not use my constituents as guinea pigs for an unproven AI air traffic control system that has Americans' lives in its hands," Beyer said in a statement after the tool was announced. Beyer's district includes Northern Virginia areas directly across the Potomac River from Washington, DC, and within DC area airspace.
The FAA announced the Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes and Trajectories (SMART) system on Monday, calling it "a cutting-edge tool that centralizes 200 data streams … into one platform." SMART's AI-supported engine then synthesizes the data to visualize where planes are going, how much traffic the system can handle, and where challenges could arise, the administration said.
It described the SMART tool as moving the FAA from a reactive mode to a predictive one and said the system uses data to anticipate demand, weather and airspace constraints hours and even weeks ahead of time. The FAA also said that SMART "cannot be used to replace the critical role air traffic controllers play or take over control of an aircraft," that all of SMART's recommendations are reviewed by FAA staff and that local leadership at air traffic control facilities can choose whether to act on SMART's recommendations.
Beyer cited a Politico story on the rollout, saying, "Despite outward appearances, the airlines reportedly were privately 'panicking' about the hasty implementation of this system." He noted that Washington area residents are still recovering from last year's fatal accident over the Potomac River and said the Trump administration did "shockingly little" to educate the traveling public on the new system before launching it "in one of the most complex airspaces in the world."
"I do not know why the Administration felt the need to race it into use, but it is unacceptable to use AI as a substitute for rebuilding the human-directed air traffic controller workforce."
The U.S. has faced chronic air traffic controller shortages for the past decade.
Beyer called on the FAA to suspend use of the system until its safety is verified.
See more: VA Lawmaker Blasts Trump Plan To Use Arlington Arch For Drones, Snipers, Ammunition
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