This article was originally published in Politifact.
Even as emergency responders worked to recover the wreckage of passengers and crew members who died in the January 29 air collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, social media users, particularly critics of President Donald Trump. pointed out some of Trump's policies. Contributor to the crash.
“Last week, Trump fired the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) and the head of the Coast Guard and disbanded the Aviation Security Advisory Committee,” X's post read. The Associated Press reported on January 21 that Trump fired those heads and removed all members of the committee.
Another X post said, “On your second day, you 1. You fired the head of the Transport Security Bureau. 2. You fired the entire Air Security Advisory Board. Officers.”
In his first week of office, Trump announced all changes to his staff, including hiring freezes. However, aviation experts said there was little Trump did that could cause a crash between a commercial jet from Wichita, Kansas and a military Black Hawk helicopter. Experts said that it was too little less than 10 days after Trump was sworn in for any of his widely spoken executive orders to have an effect.
Watch: Disassemble the moments that led to the worst aviation disaster in the United States since 2001
The Road Safety Administration, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Aviation Security Advisory Committee all play a role in aviation safety, but “President Trump's actions would not have had such an immediate effect,” he said. said Jim Caldosaw. He is currently a pilot who is Senior Director of the Institute for Global Security at the University of South Florida.
“All processes for controlling and disengaging air traffic in the DC area have been well established for a long time,” Cardoso says. “People involved in the accident – two aircraft at the time of the accident and the airmen from (air traffic controllers) – similarly, there was no impact from recent policy changes in Trump's executive orders since January 20th.” .
“We're a great deal of exploring our efforts to help you,” said John Cox, a retired pilot who runs a St. Petersburg-based aviation security consulting firm, Florida.
“At this point, we don't know enough,” Cox said on Jan. 30. It claims that certain factors caused a crash even 24 hours after it occurred is argued that it is “unbasic” debate.
Cox said the international standard for determining the cause of a crash is “not to be speculated.” You stay in fact. The idea is that getting the correct answer is more important than politically motivated answers. ”
It can take several months to investigate a conflict. For now, here's what we know about what actions Trump had to do with aviation and, if any, what effect they had on this crash.
What did Trump do with aviation?
In an executive order on January 20th, Trump enacted a hiring freeze on federal private employees, stopping open positions from being met and new positions created.
However, the order exempts military personnel from positions “related to immigration enforcement, national security or public safety.” The White House told Politifact that air traffic control would be exempt from employment freezes due to its role in public safety. The White House also said that unlike political appointees, air traffic controllers do not change between administrations.
On January 21, Trump signed an executive order to “keep Americans safe on aviation.” It removed diversity, equity, inclusion, or DEI, and hired and directed the Federal Aviation Administration Transportation Secretary and Managers to “return to non-discriminatory merit-based employment.”
Watch: Trump signs an air order to assess the “damage” caused to air safety by diversity policies
I also ordered a performance review of “Critical Safety Position Individuals.”
On January 30, Trump spoke with reporters to crash the FAA's diversity and inclusion employment policy.
Cox said all pilots and air traffic controllers involved in the January 29 collision have, by definition, required training requirements and “meet the criteria based on their job.” .
On January 30, the New York Times reported that air traffic control tower staffing was “not normal between time and traffic,” according to a preliminary internal Federal Aviation Administration safety report. . The Times said the Reagan Airport Tower has been suffering from a staff shortage due to employee sales and tight budgets.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported on January 21 that Trump had fired TSA administrator David Pekoske and Coast Guard commander Linda Fagan.
However, TSA safety generally revolves around security screening of passengers, cargo and air workers rather than airplanes operations. And the Coast Guard is focusing on maritime safety.
Trump also fired all members of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee, a group that includes representatives from the Aviation Group in the civil sector. They advise TSA administrators on aviation security. The group was scheduled to meet on February 26th. Usually we meet four times a year.
The X post alleges that Trump fired 400 “high-ranking officials” and 3,000 air traffic controllers eight days ago. However, this is unfounded and the White House told Politifact that the air traffic controllers had not been fired.
In May 2024, CNN said that the Air Traffic Control Bureau was facing a shortage of 3,000 controllers based on the number of FAAs, and there were concerns that the shortage of workers was contributing to long shifts and fatigue. I've reported it.
Politifact researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.
