Did Trump’s firing airlines at risk of DC aircraft accident? , Aviation news
Even emergency respondent was working to recover the remains of passengers and crew members, who died on January 29 in a midar confrontation near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, social media users, especially Critics of President Donald Trump indicated some of Trump’s policies as contributors. to crash.
An X post read, the Associated Press said on January 21 that Trump fired the heads and removed all the members of the committee.
Another X post reads, “Your second day, you expel the head of the Transport Safety Administration, 2. Full Aviation Safety Advisory Committee, 3. Recruitment of all air traffic controllers, 4. 100 Top FAA The officer fired.
In its first week in the office, Trump announced the changes of comprehensive personnel, including freezes hiring freeze. But aviation experts said that Trump had done much less that could reduce the accident between Wichita, Kansas and a military Black Hawk helicopter a commercial jet. Experts stated that there was a very short time after 10 days of taking an oath of Trump – he had an impact for any widely words executive orders.
However, Transport Safety Administration, United States Coast Guard and Aviation Security Advisory Committee all play a role in aviation security, “The work done by President Trump would not have made such an immediate effect”, said the US Air Force, Jim Cardso. Colonel and Pilot, who are now senior directors of the University of Global and National Institute of Security of South Florida University.
“All procedures for controlling and decomposing air traffic in the DC sector have been well established for a long time,” Cardso said. “Personnel involved in the accident – air crew from two aircraft and (air traffic controllers) at the time of the accident – will not be affected in the same way” recent policy changes in Trump’s executive orders since January 20.
It is also unintelligent to speculate on the causes immediately after an accident, a retired pilot John Cox said, which runs the Aviation Security Consulting firm in St. Petersburg, Florida.
“At this point, we don’t know enough,” Cox said on 30 January. Anyone who argues that a specific factor caused the accident, even 24 hours after this happened, an argument is “without a foundation” argument, he said.
Cox said that the international standard to determine what happened due to an accident is “not speculation. You live with facts. The idea is that it is more important to get the correct answer than the politically motivated answer.”
It will take months to investigate the conflict. For now, here we know what action Trump has taken and what effects, if any, they can occur on this accident.
What did Trump do in relation to aviation?
In an executive order of January 20, Trump implemented a freeze on federal citizen employees, stopping any open posts from being filled and any new posts were created.
However, this order exempted military personnel, “post related to immigration enforcement, national security, or public safety” position. Air traffic control will be exempted from hiring freeze due to its role in public safety, the White House informed the Politifact. The White House also said that, unlike political appointments, the air traffic controllers do not change between the President’s administration.
On 21 January, Trump signed an executive order, “keeping Americans safe in aviation”. This directed the diversity, equity and inclusion-or DEI-K at work and the Administrator of the Transport Secretary and the Federal Aviation Administration to “return to non-discriminatory, merit-based hiring”.
It also ordered demonstration reviews for “individuals in important security positions”.
Speaking to reporters on 30 January, Trump blamed FAA diversity and included policies to hire policies for accidents.
But Cox said that all the pilots and the air traffic controller involved in the January 29 accident, according to the definition, passed through the required training requirements and “met the standards to be in that job” Would not have changed. ,
The New York Times reported on January 30 that as per the internal initial FAA security report, the staffing in the air traffic control tower was “not normal for the amount of day and traffic”. The Times reported that the tower of the Reagan Airport has been understood for years, as the Times reported due to the employee turnover and tight budget.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported on January 21 that Trump had fired TSA administrator David Pekose and Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Linda Fagan.
However, TSA’s security responsibilities typically revolve around the safety screening of passengers, cargo and aviation workers, not by operating aircraft. And the Coast Guard focuses on marine security.
Trump also fired all members of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee, a group that includes representatives of private-field aviation groups. They advise the TSA Administrator on Aviation Security. The group was scheduled to meet on 26 February; It is usually found four times a year.
The X post claimed that Trump fired 400 “senior officers” of FAA and 3,000 air traffic controllers eight days ago. But this is unbalanced, and the White House told Politifact that no air traffic controllers were fired.
In May 2024, CNN reported that, based on FAA numbers, air traffic control stations were facing a shortage of 3,000 controllers, with concerns that worker shortage contributed to long changes and tiredness.
Politffect researcher Carrin Baird contributed to this report.
