The horrific mid-air collision Wednesday evening between a regional jet operated by American Airlines and a Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport shocked the nation. In an era where air travel has seemingly never been safer, the investigation is revealing new information, prompting new questions about what caused the collision. While many factors may have contributed to the disaster, one of the biggest questions will be whether any of these factors could have been prevented. One of those factors may lie in a years-old Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) directive.
This is messed up https://t.co/nshOwFBh4T
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 31, 2025
Among some of the questions being raised about the crash is how much of a role, if any, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) hiring practices play among Air Traffic Controllers. The answer might be found in a piece from exactly one year ago in the Washington Times and tweeted out Thursday night by Elon Musk. It recounts a document issued by the FAA in 2013 under the Obama administration. The document entitled “Controller Hiring by the Numbers” asked this question, “How much of a change in job performance is acceptable to achieve what diversity goals?” Um…how bout zero?
READ MORE: NEW: FAA Report Has Concerning Info on Control Tower Staffing at Reagan Airport on Day of Crash
The piece goes on to mention two near-miss “runway incursions” at both Reagan National and Baltimore-Washington International in 2023 and also details controller understaffing occurring in February of 2024. While mentioning America’s clean record with fatal air crashes since 2009, there is this now-prophetic statement: “It’s only a matter of time before the streak ends.”
The document in question was obtained by Mountain States Legal Foundation regarding a class-action lawsuit. In 2012, the FAA devised a “quiz” called a “Biographical Assessment.” The goal: to hire more minorities. Air Traffic Controllers are required to complete a 200-hour training program, then take a test called the AT-SAT, which is an eight-hour cognitive test that measures all specific skills needed to be an Air Traffic Controller. The Biographical Assessment was in addition to the required training.
If the questions on the Biographical Assessment were not suspect enough, the scoring of those questions certainly was. One of the questions was, “College subject in which I received my lowest grade.” Those who answered “history/political science” would score 15 points. If candidates said they played four or more sports in high school, that was worth five points. One would think that being an actual pilot would make one greatly qualified to be an air traffic controller. Not so — having a pilot’s license got you only two points. The best part of this quiz? Having previous experience in the military as an air traffic controller got you no points at all.
REMINDER: Biden’s pick to lead the FAA was a DEI hire who couldn’t answer a single question about aviation. pic.twitter.com/Wpq27SSm9P
— Jessica 🇺🇸 (@RealJessica05) January 30, 2025
Attorneys for a plaintiff in the lawsuit who scored a perfect 100 percent on the AT-SAT but whose application was turned down allege that DEI activists and FAA officials not only created the Biographical Assessment together but gave the answers to those of certain ethnic groups. As a result, more than 3,000 qualified candidates were not accepted as air traffic controllers. In 2018, the FAA was made by Congress to eliminate the quiz.
ALSO READ: How Patty Murray Accidentally Helped Expose the Dangers of DEI Within the FAA Back in 2014
So, who were accepted as air traffic controllers? Those who could answer completely irrelevant questions on a useless assessment? How long has this been allowed to go on? My colleague Sister Toldjah reports that as far back as 2014, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) grilled Obama Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx about why obviously well-qualified candidates were being turned down and got this gem, “What we have found, however, is that the group of folks who typically apply to the FAA for air traffic controller positions tends to be rather limited.” What does that mean, too white? Did Secretary Foxx let the DEI cat out of the bag that long ago?
The investigation into the crash is still in the very early stages. But if it turns out that DEI hiring practices played a part, then what we thought was just another silly, annoying leftist exercise has now graduated to deadly.
As much as you want to pin this airplane accident on Trump it’s actually because of Biden and Obama. It is DEI policy that goes back to Obama. The FAA rejected over 1,000 qualified Air traffic control applicants based on their race. pic.twitter.com/Lae5oa6Cix
— Lorrie Ann 🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇸 (@LorrieAnn25) January 30, 2025
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