As Trump Blames DEI for Plane Crash, Report Shows Understaffed Air Traffic Control
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) report on
Thursday said the
staffing at the time of the crash was "not normal for the time of day and
volume of traffic."
One controller was instructing helicopters near Ronald
Reagan Washington National Airport while also directing planes landing at and
departing from the airport.
As The New York Times reported, controllers
use different radio frequencies to communicate with helicopter pilots and those
flying planes.
"While the controller is communicating with pilots of
the helicopter and the jet, the two sets of pilots may not be able to hear each
other," according to the Times.
Air traffic controllers have been forced to work longer
hours and workweeks in recent years, amid budget constraints and high turnover.
In 2023, the tower near Washington, D.C. had 19 fully
certified air traffic controllers. The FAA and the controllers' union say the
optimal number is 30.
The FAA report was released shortly after President Donald
Trump presented his own theory, without evidence, of why the
crash that killed 67 people happened.
Trump suggested at a press briefing that under the Biden
administration, the FAA had overseen a "diversity push" with a
"focus on hiring people with severe intellectual and psychiatric
disabilities."
A reporter at the briefing asked whether Trump was saying
the crash "was somehow caused and the result of diversity hiring" and
called on him to offer evidence to support the claim.
"It just could have been," Trump said, adding that
his administration has "a much higher standard than anybody else" for
hiring federal employees.
Government Executive noted that the
FAA began diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) hiring programs as early as
2013, which continued under the first Trump administration.
