The nation is reeling from the Reagan National Airport disaster. There are no survivors. The American Airlines flight that collided with an Army Blackhawk helicopter last night around 9 PM spared no one. All 67 people on the aircraft and the chopper perished in what is the worst aviation accident in recent memory. For some, this was an event waiting to happen, given the congestion, the length of the runway, and variating flight patterns.
Trump smacks down CNN's Kaitlin Collins after she accuses him of politicizing the deadly DC plane crash:
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) January 30, 2025
"I think that's not a very smart question. I'm surprised, coming from you." pic.twitter.com/SE4OFM2kSp
Reagan Airport has seen more than a few close calls. It doesn’t help that the air traffic control tower has one staffer doing the work of two people. The conditions before the tragic crash were described as “not normal.” The media lambasted President Trump for insinuating the DEI initiatives were partially to blame, along with the control tower. He was right about the latter (via NYT):
"Staffing at the air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan National Airport was “not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic...The controller who was handling helicopters...was also instructing planes that were landing and departing from its runways" pic.twitter.com/Tts8z09G4Y
— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) January 30, 2025
NYT, breaking news: “Control Tower Staffing Was ‘Not Normal’ During Deadly Crash, F.A.A. Says”
— Josh Kraushaar (@JoshKraushaar) January 30, 2025
“An internal report suggested that the controller on duty during the late-night accident was doing a job usually handled by two people”
INITIAL FAA REPORT ON COLLISION SAYS STAFFING WAS NOT NORMAL AT CONTROL TOWER: NYT
— NewsWire (@NewsWire_US) January 30, 2025
Staffing at the air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan National Airport was “not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic,” according to an internal preliminary Federal Aviation Administration safety report about the collision that was reviewed by The New York Times.
The controller who was handling helicopters in the airport’s vicinity Wednesday night was also instructing planes that were landing and departing from its runways. Those jobs typically are assigned to two controllers, rather than one.
This increases the workload for the air traffic controller and can complicate the job. One reason is that the controllers can use different radio frequencies to communicate with pilots flying planes and pilots flying helicopters. 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.
Like most of the country’s air traffic control facilities, the tower at Reagan airport has been understaffed for years. The tower there was nearly a third below targeted staff levels, with 19 fully certified controllers as of September 2023, according to the most recent Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan, an annual report to Congress that contains target and actual staffing levels. The targets set by the F.A.A. and the controllers’ union call for 30.
The shortage — caused by years of employee turnover and tight budgets, among other factors — has forced many controllers to work up to six days a week and 10 hours a day.
The F.A.A. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
As for the DEI nonsense, he signed an executive order to investigate the hiring practices under Biden, some of which included hiring the brain-damaged and the mentally ill. The American Airlines flight was also told to divert to another runway, which is not unusual, though it magnified the ongoing concerns about the air traffic going through Reagan.