cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/17843817
Important context:
- January 20: FAA director fired
- January 21: Air Traffic Controller hiring frozen
- January 22: Aviation Safety Advisory Committee disbanded
- January 28: Buyout/retirement demand sent to existing employees
- January 29: First American mid-air collision in 16 years
But if the controller gave the correct instructions, and they were acknowledged and then ignored, having two controllers doesn’t prevent the accident. It prevents other accidents.
The focus should be on military helicopter pilot competence and training.
It appears at the moment that the instructions were acknowledged and that the helicopter pilots were mistaken about which plane they were avoiding, not that they ignored instructions.
And regardless, the purpose of an air traffic controller is to monitor traffic continuously. Having the prescribed number of atcs would have made space for the tower to see that the helicopter was on a collision course and act to avoid it.
Thanks. I see what you mean. And also OP’s addition.
One more controller on duty means they can spot instructions not being followed instead of having to pay attention to something else. Both are important to look at, as an event like this is not because one person messed up; it’s because multiple people were not able to spot the problem before it turned deadly
You are seeing people angry about his ridiculous comments about how this was DEI. Which is justified anger.
I agree that going straight to DEI without knowing anything about the “merits” of the responsible parties is just plain stupid. But we saw Trump do a lot of stupid things his first term, and this is no surprise.
I also agree that firing many federal workers and leaving agencies leaderless will lead to much pain and suffering.
It’s just in this case, the dumb moves with the FAA are probably not linked to the crash. At a minimum we should wait for better info. Criticize the bad moves for other reasons.
Oh jesus fucking christ… admit that your stupid fucking orange god is at fault, already.
I fucking hate that Cheeto but he did ask a valid question and other people did respond with information that helped shaped and change that understanding, not a glib pointless comment like yours.
Thank you, fellow orange god worshipper.
Edit: Apparently the sarcastic end to that was not obvious.