Trump and DOGE to be blamed for recent aviation mishaps? Debate reignited after Delta Air Lines crash
Critics have pointed out that there have been seven plane crashes involving US carriers after the White House announced that "Trump has ended the DEI madness and restored excellence and safety within the Federal Aviation Administration."
76 passengers and four crew members onboard a Delta Air Lines flight from Minneapolis in the US to Toronto in Canada had a narrow escape after their flight flipped and went belly up while landing at the Toronto Pearson International Airport on Monday. While 18 people have suffered injuries, none of them are life-threatening.
CREDIT: AP
Fingers pointed at Trump, DOGE
But yet another crash involving a US airline has raised serious concerns over aviation safety. Many have blamed US President Donald Trump and Elon Musk-controlled DOGE for compromising aviation safety with the layoffs at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Seven major air crashed after Trump overhaul of FAA
Critics have pointed out that there have been seven plane crashes involving US carriers after the White House announced that "Trump has ended the DEI madness and restored excellence and safety within the Federal Aviation Administration."
CREDIT: AP
The announcement was made on January 25, and just days later, on January 29, a US Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines passenger jet collided mid-air in Washington DC, resulting in the death of 67 people.
The decision to put a single controller in charge of both commercial airline and helicopter traffic at the busy airport was blamed for the crash.
CREDIT: REUTERS
Just two days later, on January 31, a Med Jets flight crashed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, shortly after takeoff, killing all seven on board.
On February 5, a Japan Airlines plane collided with a Delta Airlines aircraft at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport while it was on its way for taxiing.
CREDIT: REUTERS
On February 10, one person was killed after a private jet collided with another jet Monday afternoon at the Scottsdale Airport in Arizona.
1/29: first commercial plane crash in 16 years in DC
¡ª Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) February 16, 2025
1/31: Learjet crash in Philly
2/5: Japan Airlines plane strikes Delta flight on runway in Seattle
2/6: Bering Air flight wrecks in Nome, Alaska
2/10: Plane crashes in Scottsdale, AZ
2/12: Military fighter jet crashes into San¡ pic.twitter.com/quADbqPMea
DOGE fires mover than 400 FAA staff
Even as the air crashes continue, Musk and DOGE are busy cutting more jobs at FAA. According to reports, around 400 probationary employees at FAA who maintain critical air traffic control infrastructure have been laid off recently.
This happened TODAY as we're reading about DOGE firing hundreds of FAA employees https://t.co/wSswd6jwLe
¡ª Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) February 17, 2025
It was also reported that a team from DOGE would visit FAA¡¯s Air Traffic Control command centre in Warrenton, Virginia, to ¡°get a firsthand look at the current system, learn what air traffic controllers like and dislike about their current tools, and envision how we can make a new, better, modern and safer system.¡±
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Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
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