President Donald Trump was criticized for claiming baselessly that the deadly inflight collision at DCA Wednesday night happened because of "diversity" initiatives with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Last night, a regional jet collided with a U.S. Army helicopter at Washington’s Reagan National Airport, resulting in the deadliest U.S. air disaster in more than 20 years. The crash claimed the lives of 67 people, including 60 passengers and 4 crew members aboard the American Airlines Bombardier.
Investigators have just begun examining the cause of the collision between the Army Black Hawk helicopter and the jet, which was preparing to land. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated that both aircraft were following standard flight patterns and that there were no communication failures.
Radio transmissions reveal that air traffic controllers warned the helicopter of the approaching jet and instructed it to change course. There is no indication or evidence whatsoever that diversity efforts within the federal workforce have impacted air safety.
Yet Trump claims otherwise, saying the following during a press briefing:
"They put a big push to put diversity into the FAA's program. Then another article before I got to office [says] the FAA is actively recruiting workers who suffer severe intellectual disabilities, mental problems, and other mental and physical conditions under diversity and inclusion hiring initiatives spelled out on the agency's website."
"Can you imagine? These are people, their lives are shortened because of the stress they have. Brilliant people have to be in those positions and their lives are actually shortened, very substantially shortened because of the stress where you have many, many planes coming into one target."
You can hear what he said in the video below.
The press in the room was not having it.
Neither was Pete Buttigieg, or many online for that matter.
The airspace over the U.S. capital region is among the most congested in the country, with three major commercial airports and multiple military installations. Reagan National Airport, located just across the river from Washington, has long faced concerns over its busy runways.
A nationwide shortage of air traffic controllers in recent years has added to these concerns; Trump blamed the Biden administration for lowering standards, saying its members "put politics at a level that nobody's ever seen because this was the lowest level."
But many brought up the fact that Trump in the days after being sworn in, Trump instituted a hiring freeze and dismissed an important aviation security advisory board. And this tweet posted 12 hours before the crash issued a sadly prescient warning.
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social