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4th

(209 posts) Thu Jan 30, 2025, 09:36 PM Jan 30

Air traffic controller was doing the job of two people during DC plane crash due to tower being understaffed, FAA says

Air traffic controller was doing the job of two people during DC plane crash due to tower being understaffed, FAA says
https://nypost.com/2025/01/30/us-news/air-traffic-controller-was-doing-the-job-of-two-people-during-crash-faa-says/

The air traffic controller on duty at the time of the deadly passenger plane-Black Hawk helicopter crash in Washington, DC, was doing the work of two people, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

Staffing in the air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport was “not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic,” the FAA found in its preliminary report, according to the New York Times.

...

Want to blame a president for the crash? Not Trump. Certainly not Biden.

It is the dead hand of Ronald Reagan who busted the the professional air traffic controllers union way back when.
The strike wasn't primarily about pay, it was about working conditions.

5 replies

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Highlight:

Air traffic controller was doing the job of two people during DC plane crash due to tower being understaffed, FAA says (Original Post) 4th Jan 30 OP

Donald trump and doge killed over sixty people so far. Bluethroughu Jan 30 #1

The Washington Post says two controllers were doing the jobs of 4 nt Wicked Blue Jan 30 #2

So for the last 35, 40 years they've been half-staffed? Igel Jan 30 #3

Follow up ... apparently. 4th Jan 31 #4

I feel very bad for that person Skittles Jan 31 #5

Bluethroughu

(7,003 posts)

1. Donald trump and doge killed over sixty people so far.

Reply to 4th (Original post)

Thu Jan 30, 2025, 09:38 PM

Jan 30

Wicked Blue

(7,694 posts)

2. The Washington Post says two controllers were doing the jobs of 4 nt

Reply to 4th (Original post)

Thu Jan 30, 2025, 09:40 PM

Jan 30

Igel

(36,615 posts)

3. So for the last 35, 40 years they've been half-staffed?

Reply to 4th (Original post)

Thu Jan 30, 2025, 09:52 PM

Jan 30

You'd have though maybe Clinton would have tried to fix that staffing problem. Or maybe Obama. Or perhaps Biden.

Or maybe they were shorthanded for something a bit closer in time to this week.

4th

(209 posts)

4. Follow up ... apparently.

Reply to Igel (Reply #3)

Fri Jan 31, 2025, 12:41 AM

Jan 31

Records show pilots complained for 20 years about near misses at DC airport
https://www.nbcchicago.com/investigations/records-show-pilots-complained-for-20-years-about-near-misses-at-dc-airport/3661183/

For at least two decades, pilots have complained about near misses with helicopters and other aircraft in the congested airspace above Reagan National Airport, according to an NBC 5 Investigates review of complaints lodged with NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System.

The complaints are not necessarily investigated or corroborated by the federal aviation authorities but do underscore concerns raised by the pilots themselves about airspace congestion at one of the nation's busiest commercial runways in DCA.

...

Skittles

(162,370 posts)

5. I feel very bad for that person

Reply to 4th (Original post)

Fri Jan 31, 2025, 12:48 AM

Jan 31

just horrible

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