The deadly DC plane crash raises a major question about air travel safety

After a deadly crash between a civilian jet and a military helicopter, officials are scrambling to figure out what caused the deaths of as many as 67 people. Donald Trump, however, isn’t waiting for evidence: The president on Thursday blamed former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a Democrat, and diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at the Federal Aviation Administration. He later conceded he has no proof of a concrete connection between DEI initiatives and the incident. Asked why he blamed Democrats and their policies, Trump replied: “Because I have common sense, and unfortunately a lot of people don’t.” Despite Trump’s attempt to immediately politicize the tragedy, the cause of the crash — and what might have been done to prevent it or future tragedies — remains unknown. Hopefully, further investigations will yield answers, but that will take time. But even before the crash, there were bigger questions about the safety of air travel and the government’s role in protecting it — both at DCA (the DC-area airport where the American Airlines flight was supposed to land) and around the country. The safety concerns around the DC airspace and FAA staffing DCA is centered in a congested airspace where both commercial and military flights operate. The airport is also home to America’s busiest runway. Last year, Congress voted to increase the number of daily flights taking off from DCA against the warnings of some lawmakers and aviation industry leaders. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) noted last May that there had been a near-miss incident where two planes almost crashed on the runway. “More and more planes on this busiest runway in the United States is just going to increase the chance of a significant incident,” he said. Aside from the concerns about regulating congestion at DCA specifically, airlines have also been raising the alarm about a critical shortage of FAA air traffic controllers nationwide. That shortage dates back at least to the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, when there were large staffing cuts due to a reduction in travel, and training programs for new controllers were put on hold. Though hiring has picked up in the last year, the FAA was still dealing with a shortage of about 3,000 certified controllers as of last May, including at DCA. This is in part due to chronic underfunding, which has also prevented the agency from updating aging facilities and technological systems. In fiscal year 2024, the FAA’s budget was $19.8 billion, an almost 7 percent increase over the previous year in recognition of its staffing challenges. According to the New York Times, DCA staffing was below normal levels when Wednesday’s crash occurred and only one controller was available to handle tasks that typically would have been divided between two — radioing pilots flying planes and those flying helicopters. However, we won’t know for certain whether either of these factors contributed to the crash until investigators fully examine the plane’s black box and review recordings of air traffic control communications. It is not clear whether the helicopter, which was being used for annual training on night flying, was flying at the correct altitude or assigned flight path when it crashed into the plane. In short, it’s too soon for anyone, including the president, to know what exactly caused this crash and what we should learn from it to make our skies safer.