Black boxes of both AA liner and Black Hawk recovered - FAA launches investigation into an accident that should not have happened - Trump blames DEI of Joe Biden and Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg

 

INVESTIGATION BEGINS INTO PLANE CRASH THAT KILLED 67, AS TRUMP LOOKS TO BLAME DEI Authorities have begun the grim process of investigating how a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines passenger jet near Reagan National Airport (DCA) on Wednesday night. It is the deadliest aviation disaster in the U.S. since 2001, killing all 64 people on the commercial flight from Kansas to D.C., as well as three service members aboard the helicopter. According to an internal preliminary safety report from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), air traffic control tower staffing at Reagan Airport was “not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic.” The report said, at the time of the collision, the same controller was directing plane arrivals/departures and helicopters in the area – usually two separate jobs. According to the country’s most recent Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan, DCA has been understaffed for years. Big picture: Due to factors like the COVID-19 pandemic, employee turnover, and tight budgets, many air traffic control facilities across the country are understaffed, leaving remaining employees to work long hours and up to six days a week. One member of the Mo News community, whose brother controls air traffic near Oakland, said he rarely gets time off and has “forced overtime regularly.” The FAA has not provided comment, and officials say it’s too early to determine if understaffing was a factor in Wednesday’s crash. TRUMP BLAMES DEI In a roughly 40-minute news conference on Thursday, Trump linked the tragedy to DEI policies during the Biden and Obama administrations. Later that day, he ordered a DEI review of all federal aviation hiring and safety decisions. He claimed these policies resulted in the appointment of unqualified individuals at the FAA, compromising aviation safety. Though Trump blamed the Biden administration specifically, Forbes reports that the FAA’s diversity website listed a commitment to hiring diverse and disabled candidates as early as 2013 and throughout Trump’s first term. It actually turns out that some of the diversity programs he railed against were actually launched during his first term. Trump attacked former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg as “a disaster” and blamed him for running the department “right into the ground with his diversity.” Pete Buttigieg@PeteButtigieg Despicable. As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying. We put safety first, drove down close calls, grew Air Traffic Control, and had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights on our watch. President Trump now oversees the military and the… x.com/i/web/status/1…   5:15 PM • Jan 30, 2025     117K Likes   27K Retweets   13.2K Replies …THEN POINTS FINGERS AT HELICOPTER CREW Trump also placed blame for Wednesday's fatal crash on the U.S. Army helicopter crew, saying, “The people in the helicopter should’ve seen where they were going.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reported that the crew on the Black Hawk helicopter involved in the collision was “fairly experienced” and was doing an “annual proficiency training flight.” Sean Duffy, the new transportation secretary, said that the flight paths of the plane and helicopter were “not unusual for what happens in the D.C. airspace” and that U.S. military helicopters routinely fly up and down the Potomac River. He also confirmed that there was no communication breakdown between the control tower and the two aircrafts, consistent with audio released. That said, he called the crash “absolutely preventable.” Duffy and Hegseth had been in their new roles for just a couple of days before the tragedy occurred. On Thursday, in the aftermath of the crash, Trump named Christopher Rocheleau to be the acting FAA commissioner. The former FAA administrator had resigned when Trump took office, after reportedly clashing with Elon Musk. The independent, nonpartisan National Transportation Safety Board is urging people not to speculate about the cause of the collision. It plans to provide a preliminary report on the crash within 30 days. THE VICTIMS Among the 67 victims of Wednesday’s crash were 14 members of the figure skating community, who had attended the U.S. national figure skating championships in Wichita, Kansas. Skating Club of Boston CEO Doug Zeghibe confirmed that teenage skaters Jinna Han and Spencer Lane were among those killed, as well as the former 1994 world champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who had been coaching at the club. Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan spoke at the Skating Club of Boston on Thursday. "We've been through tragedies before as Americans, as people, and we are strong," Kerrigan said, through tears.