US Senators John Curtis and Jeff Merkley have introduced bipartisan legislation aimed at tightening aviation safety rules after a helicopter struck a slackline — a thin, hard-to-see line strung between anchor points — in an accident that killed a person on the line.

The bill, announced on Curtis's official Senate site, responds to what the senators describe as gaps in how recreational rigging near flight paths is reported to pilots and regulators. The proposed measure would enhance aviation safety requirements governing the marking, notification and charting of temporary vertical hazards in low-altitude airspace.

A slackline stretched across a canyon or ridgeline is nearly invisible from a moving helicopter. In the accident that prompted the legislation, the aircraft's rotor or airframe contacted the line, with fatal consequences. Curtis and Merkley argue the episode exposed a structural weakness: no systematic mechanism currently requires individuals or groups rigging such lines to notify the Federal Aviation Administration, publish a notice to airmen, or flag the obstacle on charts used by helicopter crews.

For helicopter operators — particularly those flying emergency medical services, utility patrol, firefighting and sightseeing missions at low altitude — unreported wires, cables and lines remain among the most persistent collision hazards. Industry safety data has long identified wire strikes as a leading cause of helicopter accidents, and the bill's sponsors contend that lighter-gauge recreational rigging now falls into the same risk category.

The legislation directs the FAA to strengthen its framework for hazard reporting. Under the proposal, the agency would tighten requirements for how temporary obstacles such as slacklines, zip lines and similar apparatus are marked and communicated to the flying public. The senators frame the measure as a targeted fix rather than a broad rewrite of low-altitude airspace rules, and it has drawn support from both sides of the aisle at introduction.

The practical consequences for operators, if the bill advances, would fall on flight planning and pre-mission briefings. Crews flying in canyon and ridge terrain could expect improved notification channels and more reliable obstacle data, reducing reliance on local knowledge and word-of-mouth reports that currently fill the gap. Enforcement mechanics — who bears responsibility for reporting a temporarily rigged line, and on what timeline — will determine how effective the statute is in practice.

The bill now heads to committee consideration in the Senate, where its fate will depend on broader aviation reauthorization timelines and the appetite of the Commerce and transportation panels to move standalone safety measures.