Washington plane crash

Congress approves increased flight volume despite warnings

The US Congress voted last year to increase traffic at Reagan Airport later this year, despite warnings of increased accident risk. The New York Times reports this after the plane crash on Thursday night in which 67 people died.

“The last thing we want is for something terrible to happen and then people to stick a microphone in our faces and say: You were warned and you voted for this anyway,” said Democratic Senator Tim Kaine during the debate last year.

The changes decided at the airport, which is already one of the busiest in the country, will take effect in the coming weeks.

In 2023, incidents where planes came close to colliding occurred several times a week at almost every major airport in the country, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The number was more than halved last year, writes Time. At Reagan Airport, there were several near-misses between planes last year.

A lone air traffic controller on duty during the plane crash

A single air traffic controller was on duty during the plane crash in Washington, even though two people are normally supposed to work together. This is according to an internal report that the New York Times has read.

“The staffing in the air traffic control tower was not normal for the time of day and the volume of traffic,” the preliminary report from the Federal Aviation Administration states, the newspaper writes.

Normally, one air traffic controller would have been responsible for helicopters and another for airplanes, according to the report.

A total of 67 people were on board the plane and the helicopter that crashed late Wednesday night. None of them survived.


Trump blames efforts at diversity for the crash

President Donald Trump claims that the diversity efforts of Democratic representatives are behind the plane crash in Washington. He said this during a press conference after declaring a minute of silence for the dead.

–We put safety first. Obama, Biden and the Democrats put politics first. Air safety is very important, he says.

– What evidence have you seen that diversity initiatives are behind the accident? asks a journalist.

– They may have, Donald Trump replies and continues:

– We will investigate what happened. We have to recruit the very best and brightest to be air traffic controllers.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance all begin by praising the president's leadership since the crash and emphasizing that diversity in their areas of responsibility is over.