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Trump to fire hundreds from FAA despite four deadly crashes on his watch
(www.thedailybeast.com)
this post was submitted on 17 Feb 2025
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It's worth noting that during President Obama's eight year administration, there were no fatal accidents involving major commercial airlines in the U.S. And under a month of Trump we've had how many? Lost count.
As an aviator with a degree in aviation I can honestly say this. It's a miracle it's taken this long for something this bad to happen. No administration, from Regan onwards, has done anything about the ATC shortage (nothing effective anyway). I'm friends with controllers, I've been to several ATC facilities, what they do everyday is a fucking miracle. While it's easy to point at the DC crash and the other subsequent crashes and say "see, Trump did it" the truth is far more nuanced and systemic than that. Also, in my opinion, the DC crash is 100% on the helicopter pilots.
Is what Trump doing now going to help the situation? Fuck no. We need more controllers. Better pay, better benefits, and more slots at the ATC academy.
I don't think ignoring a systematic issue can be put on the same level as actively enabling it. sure, previous presidents haven't helped much, which is asking for a tragedy to happen, but trump has been pretty much forcing them to happen with these cuts.
True. It's going to be bad. But it's hard to pin the blame on trumpmfor the past incidents. The firings just happened
As if the shitty Boeings they are allowed make aren't enough to cause crashes.
I propose having no covfefe available to neither pilots nor controllers. Also, all airplane flight alarms should call the pilot derogatory names.
That would help things tremendously. We are looking for ways to improve chaos right?
The DC crash is interesting. Have you seen this video? https://youtube.com/watch?v=1IUJpRwzHZU
Seems like there were several factors. But we'll need the black box analysis to know more.
The Helicopter pilot was certainly in the wrong place, but from their point of view, it's understandable why they were in the wrong place.
The question is, did the controller give clear guidance?
And would a second pair of eyes on the situation have helped?
The Helo pilot said the words "traffic in sight..." In the world of aviation that is you saying "I am taking responsibility for traffic separation". The controller isn't in the cockpit, the controller has no choice but to take the pilot at their word. The pilot then followed that up with "...request visual separation." Which is an even more assertive way of saying "I know what I'm doing, I am responsible for separation". He said it twice. The ATC system is built on multual trust in eachother and professionalism.
The question "did the controller give clear guidance" is moot. The pilot took responsibility for traffic separation. At that point ATC is not responsible for traffic separation. If I want ATC to take responsibility for my safety I say "(Plane call sign) is looking for traffic" then ATC tells me desend, turn, speed up, slow down, etc...
Wait, so it isn't trumps fault but we had 4 crashes since he's taken office? Bro it's his fault what the hell are you talking about? One of those is directly his fault.
Yes. There are thousands of aviation incidents and accidents every year in the US. None of those have been scheduled carriers. General aviation, crop dustets, flight training, etc... The DC crash was notable because it's the first fatalities due to mishap on a US SCHEDULED air carrier (called part 121 in the industry) since 2009. Emphasis on scheduled. Because of the notability Since then there has been increased scrutiny on aviation which is why you've heard about 2 of the other 3 at all. So 4 since trump took office isn't remarkable. In fact, I'd wager there's been a lot more.
Now does firing 100s of controllers make the ATC system more safe? No. That's gonna be a disaster.
Is it actually his fault? Not likely. None of his policies had really affected the ATC, at least for the first couple incidents.
But it’s something we can point to as a nice little factoid. And as president, the buck stops with him. Wether or not he directly influenced events is besides the point.
Of course, but the AmeriKan attitude is do more with less.
...The Capitalist attitude... FTFY. This isn't an exclusively American problem.
Tbf, I think it was just the 1 in DC. There was a military one and a small aircraft as well, but only one involving commercial airlines to my knowledge. Still, the number is embarrassingly high.
Also, the one in DC really sounds like a fuckup by the helicopter crew. The ATC warned the helicopter crew about the incoming plane twice and the helicopter crew indicated both times they saw the plane and were maintaining visual separation (watching the plane and keeping their distance).
Don't be that person, the one who oversimplifies an accident into a single issue instead of a chain of events - the circling maneuver, the NVG training, the other plane on approach further out, the discrepancy in altimeter readings between PiC/PM in the Blackhawk, stepped-on comms, the list of things that could easily contribute is already an arm's length long.
Edit: you know what would be great? If the FAA had the resources necessary to implement NTSB's recommendation backlog. Do you feel firing lots of FAA staff helps us or hurts us on that front?
I'm not saying Trump or what he's doing aren't terrible.
But he had zero impact on the DC crash, and every time we blame something on him that isn't his fault the Republicans will grasp onto that and say we'd blame him for water being wet.
Just so we are good, I was being rhetorical in my questions, not targeting them at you.
But also I think I am coming around to the GOP approach: who cares if it's perfectly true when it is essentially true?
Because the honest truth is there's a double-standard. When they lie it's no big deal. When we get out of line even the smallest amount the right-wing media machines will run with it for YEARS.
Was the military exercise being done in DC when the helicopter crashed being done as part of a normal schedule, or at the request of the Trump administration? From what I understand it was an excercise for having to potentially evac the white house
He did change the rules for trains tho allowing much longer trains. That required electronic braking systems. He didn't make that mandatory and gave the companies 14 years to install them. He allowed the companies to force their employees to work longer hours. He was certainly responsible for the Palestine disaster. (the chemical accident not thre genocide)
The Norfolk Southern crews nicknamed 32N as "32 Nasty." They knew a derailment was inevitable.
There were none under Biden either if I remember correctly.
True. Even under Bush there was only this one incident in 2001.
Or three, depending on how you count it.
Oops, I guess I forgot to never forget.
You give trump too much credit.