Did Trump Air Force officials increase the risk of DC aircraft accident? | Airline news
Even while an emergency responsible worked on the return of passengers’ residues and crew members who were killed in 29 January Midair Collision near National Airport Ronald Reagan Washington, users of social media, especially critics of President Donald Trump, pointed out some Trump policy to contribute in a collision.
“Just last week, Trump He fired the heads of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Coast Guard and dissolved the Air Force Security Advisory Committee, “read one X post. Associated Press reported on January 21 that Trump had fired these heads and removed all the members of the board.
The second post was: “On the second day, you dismissed the manager of the Transport Safety Directorate, the 2nd Foreign Counseling Committee for Air Force, 3. Freighting all air traffic controllers, 4.
In his first week in an officeTrump has announced that they are assisted in staff changes, including freezing employment. But air experts said Trump did little that could encourage a collision between a commercial aircraft from Wichite, Kansas and Black Hawk’s military helicopter. There was simply too little time – less than 10 days after Trump swore – for any of his widely written Executive commands That they had an effect, experts said.
Although traffic safety administration, the United States Coast Guard and the Aeronautical Security Advisory Board play a role in air security, “President Trump’s actions would not lead to such an immediate influence,” said Jim Cardoso, former US Air Force Colonel and Pilot, which is Now the higher director of the Institute of Global and National Security of the University of South Florida.
“All air traffic control and deconfolization processes in the DC have been established for a long time,” Cardoso said. “Staff involved in an accident – an air crew from two aircraft and (air traffic controllers) at a place at the time of the accident – in a similar way would not affect” recent changes in politics in Trump’s executive commands of January 20th.
It is also unreasonable to speculate on the causes so quickly after the collision, said John Cox, a retired pilot run by a consultant air security company based in Florida.
“At this point, we don’t know enough,” Cox said on January 30th. Anyone who claims that a certain factor caused a fall, not even 24 hours after it happens, is an argument “without a foundation,” he said.
Cox said the international standard for determining what caused the fall “does not mean guessing. You stay with the facts. The idea is that it is more important to get the right answer from a politically motivated answer.”
AND A collision investigation It will probably take months. For now, here’s what we know about the action that Trump has taken about the aviation and what effect, if any, they could have had this fall.
What did Trump do about the aviation?
At January 20th Executive commandTrump brought freezing employment with federal civilian employees, preventing any open positions to be filled and to create any new positions.
However, this warrant has exempted military staff, “positions associated with immigration, national security or public security”. Air traffic control would be exempted from hiring freezing because of his role in public security, said the White House of Politifact. The White House also said that, unlike the political named, air traffic controllers do not change between the presidential administrations.
Trump signed an executive order on January 21, “Keeping Americans in Air Force.” He eliminated the diversity, equality and involvement of or dei-winging and directing the carriage secretary and administrator of the Federal Air Force administration to “return to non-discriminatory, employment based on merit.”
He also ordered success reviews for “individuals in critical security positions”.
In an interview with journalists on January 30, Trump blamed the policies on the diversity and the inclusion of FAA.
But Cox said all the pilots and air traffic controllers included in the 29th of January, by definition, would have passed the necessary training requirements and “fulfilled the standards in this business”, and any adherence to Dei rules would not change that.
On January 30, the New York Times reported that staff in the air traffic control tower “is not normal during the day of the day and quantity of traffic,” the FAA’s internal preliminary report reports. Reagan Airport has had enough staff for years, partly due to the traffic of employees and tight budgets, Times reported.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported on January 21 that Trump had released the administrator of TSA David Pekoska and Admiral Linda Fagan’s Coast Guard Commander.
However, TSA security responsibilities are mostly revolted around the safety screening of passengers, freight and airlines, not because of the airplane operation. And the coastal guard focuses on maritime security.
Trump also fired all members of the Air Force Security Counseling Committee, which includes representatives of the private sector aircraft. They advise the administrator of TSA -Eo air security. The group was supposed to meet on February 26; It usually meets four times a year.
Post X claimed that Trump had released 400 “high officials” FAA and 3,000 air traffic controllers eight days ago. But it was unfounded, and the White House told Politifact that no air traffic controller was fired.
In May 2024.
Politifact researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.
