Air Traffic Controllers, Flight Allocation, and Faa’s Remnant: Why did the Wright-Twiss Interjet Collision happen? What Donald Trump Decided

He wasn’t certain who was to blame because he didn’t know all those things. No need to wait for the investigation to reach that conclusion.

He said he did not know why adjustments were not made when the two aircraft hurtled toward each other. He did not know if the helicopter pilots wore night-vision goggles. He said at another point that they didn’t know if it was the controller’s fault.

He couldn’t say if anyone with severe disabilities were hired to work as air traffic controllers as opposed to other jobs compatible with their abilities. He could not say whether anyone on Wednesday night fit that category.

Mr. Trump did not wait for the conclusion of his own investigation to give his opinion on the crash. He discussed F.A.A. diversity policies which encourage the hiring of people with severe disabilities, the same policies he was in office for last time.

Whitaker’s resignation clears the way for President Donald Trump to name his own replacement to run the agency. Musk is an ardent supporter of Trump and is said to be helping the administration vet candidates to certain positions and directing an effort to purge federal workers from all levels of government. And while its unclear whether Musk has been directly involved in picking a new FAA administrator, the billionaire mogul has reportedly been involved in overseeing Boeing’s development of the next Air Force One jets.

What Donald Trump (D.E.I.) Buttigieg did in 2028: He Exploits Tragedies for Political Reconciliation and Safety

Recognizing the writing on the wall, many states, localities, universities and private companies are now scrapping their diversity programs, either to curry favor with the new administration or to preserve their federal financing. Mr. Trump and his allies have successfully made the acronym D.E.I. politically radioactive.

Mr. Buttigieg pushed back on social media. “Despicable,” he wrote. 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.”

Mr. Trump’s instant focus on diversity programs generated outrage among Democrats. The Democratic leader of the Senate, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, made a statement on the Senate floor that it was one thing for internet pundits to make up theories about other people. “It’s another for the president of the United States to throw out idle speculation as bodies are still being recovered and families are still being notified. It just turns your stomach.”

The president mentioned Pete Buttigieg, who was Mr. Biden’s transportation secretary, saying he was a disaster. Mr. Buttigieg, as it happens, is considered a possible Democratic candidate for president in 2028.

Other presidents have been like Mr. Trump. He does not follow the traditional practices of his office. The politics of division are what he practices. Where past presidents have sought to project a comforting, paternal presence for a stricken nation in moments of crisis, Mr. Trump’s instinct is to move quickly from grief to grievance. He demonstrates that he’s more comfortable as the blamer in chief than he is as the consoler.

The exception has been if the victims of a tragedy buttress a political argument he has been making. He expressed sympathy for the family of Laken Riley, a nursing student who was killed by a migrant from Venezuela who had crossed into the United States illegally.

The White House employee who criticized the president during the Pandemic was a member of the White House Covid task force. “He exploits tragedy for whatever political grievance he’s peddling at the moment, never offering the comfort or stability a president should.”

He got into a war of words with the San Juan Mayor after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, and then went to the island to toss paper towels to the people who had been left without food, water or power. He was angry at the criticism of his actions, so he suggested to his aides that the US sell or trade away Puerto Rico.

He has responded similarly to natural disasters by going on the attack. Mr. Trump called the Gov. of California a “newscum” after the devastating fires in Los Angeles.

“I put safety first,” Mr. Trump told reporters in his first visit to the briefing room of his second term. Obama, Biden and the Democrats care about policy. And they put politics at a level that nobody’s ever seen because this was the lowest level. Their politics was worse than their policy.

Even for Mr. Trump, the decision to use the White House pulpit to assign blame for the crash to his political rivals by name, without providing evidence, was a striking performance. It wasn’t off-the-cuff. He followed up by signing an order directing a review of “problematic and likely illegal decisions” by Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden.

In 1996, President Bill Clinton made a plea to the American people not to think about what caused TWA Flight 800 to crash in New York.

After declaring it to be an “hour of anguish for our nation,” Donald Trump just five minutes later let anguish give way to aggression as he blamed diversity policies promoted by Mr. Obama and former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. for the crash, which killed 67 people.

is transportation editor with 10+ years of experience who covers EVs, public transportation, and aviation. His work has appeared in two newspapers.

Air Traffic Safety at the First Space Launch Launch: How the FAA Has Been Underfunded During the 2023 Air Safety Crisis – A Report by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy

At a press conference Thursday with rescue officials, newly confirmed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy ignored reporters’ questions about whether the FAA had an acting director in place to help manage the crisis.

The FAA has also fined Starlink, after the SpaceX subsidiary failed to submit safety data before launching satellites in 2022. The only way to comply with safety matters is through the FAA civil penalties, according to Whitaker.

In addition to Musk’s attacks, the FAA has long suffered from underfunding and outdated technology. In 2023, a panel of experts released a report that found that the increasing reliance of overtime to staff air traffic control facilities was putting air safety at risk. Hundreds of complaints from air traffic workers describe dangerous conditions like staff shortages and dilapidated buildings.