How Pete Buttigieg Stopped Elon Musk's Childish Antics Like an Adult

How Pete Buttigieg Stopped Elon Musk’s Childish Antics Like an Adult

After the SpaceEx founder spread misinformation about Hurricane Helene shutting down airspace, Buttigieg personally walked him through FAA regulations by phone.

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/pete-buttigieg-elon-musk-hurricane-helene?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=dhtwitter&utm_content=null





By Caitlin Dewey October 7, 2024
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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg had to speak to Elon Musk on the phone to get the tech billionaire and Donald Trump superfan to stop spouting hurricane relief misinformation.

...........Musk and Buttigieg’s specific dust-up involved temporary flight restrictions over North Carolina, where Musk’s satellite internet company, Starlink, has been establishing emergency internet service. “Hundreds” of pilots in the region had been unable to land because the FAA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency blocked their flights, Musk posted.

But the reality, as Buttigieg and FAA spokesmen have since explained, is less diabolical. The FAA never closed down airspace over North Carolina. In some areas, however, at the request of local law enforcement, the FAA and state aviation agencies have required what Buttigieg called a “higher level of coordination” between pilots and local airports to prevent in-air collisions. Such requirements are standard in the aftermath of major natural disasters, when nearby air space can become dangerously crowded.

That explanation appeared to work for Musk, who on Friday afternoon posted a message thanking Buttigieg for the call and helping to “simplify” FAA regulations. But he still hasn’t walked back any of his false or misleading posts, which also claimed that federal aid workers “seized” emergency aid shipments and exhausted their agency’s budget “ferrying illegals” to the U.S...........

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