New York – President Donald Trump wasted a very short time this week, trying to blame for the country’s deadliest aerial disaster in more than two decades. In his main goals: An FAA diversity recruitment initiative. He suggested that the effectiveness of the agency was reduced.
“But for definitely an air traffic controller, we want the most bright, the most clever, fastest. We want someone to be psychologically superior, ”Trump said at a news conference on Thursday.
There is no evidence that the rules to diversify the FAA played a role in a collision between an American Airlines regional jet and an army black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday, killing 67 people.
Nevertheless, Trump’s comments attracted attention to the efforts of the agency to address their most pressure and long-standing problems-the frequent decrease of hearing traffic controllers who are important to protect the sky.
How is Trump hired variety for collision?
Trump is using this week’s disaster as another opportunity to push back against diversity programs, after signing executive orders, who are banning such an initiative in the federal government. It included one for the Transport Secretary and Federal Aviation Administrator.
During the White House press briefing, Trump said that the FAA diversity program was allowed to hire people with hearing and vision issues, as well as paralysis, epilepsy and “dwarfism”.
“The FAA is actively recruiting workers who suffer serious intellectual disability, psychiatric problems and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and include the initiative to hire the agency’s website,” He said.
FAA’s own data shows such disabled people that air traffic is only a small fraction of controllers. And there is no indication that the investigators in the accident are focused on hiring or handicapped employees.
Later on Thursday, Trump doubled his criticism by signing a President’s memorandum on aviation security, stated that the biden would be “damaged” to the federal agencies by the initiative of the diversity and inclusion of the Biden administration.
Is FAA variety initiative part of the investigation?
When asked about Trump’s comments on Thursday, National Transport Safety Board Chairman Jennifer Homendi said that his team examines all factors in any investigation, “Human, machine and environment.” He said that this means to see the people involved, the aircraft and the atmosphere in which they were working.
“This is the standard,” he said.
Trump’s remarks reprimanded the leaders of Democrats and civil rights.
“The dead bodies are still being drawn from the Potomac River. Families are mourning the loss of loved ones. Still Donald Trump is blaming Dai baselessly for the tragic collision of the last night, ”Sen Tammy Duckworth said, a Democrat that loses both legs while blowing black hawk helicopters in the Iraq war, diversity, Equity and inclusion refers to policies.
“Absolutely embarrassing,” Duckworth said on the X social media platform.
Democratic Sen, Ruben Galgo, were blunt in response to a marine experienced, Trump’s comments. “Dei did not cause this tragedy,” he said on X.
Groups representing handicapped workers issued a joint statement that they were disappointed with the sacrifice, given that the FAA’s diversity was used under the initiative to fulfill their rigorous qualifications Was.
“The implication is that people are being hired to do a job for which they are unqualified. There is a baseless lie that further strengthens harmful stereotypes against people with disabilities,” it said.
What is behind FAA’s recruitment strategy?
The FAA has long faced a shortage of air traffic controllers, complicated by the Kovid -19 epidemic. Homendi told a Senate panel in 2023 that the increase in calls between aircraft at American airports that year was a “clear warning sign”, emphasizing the aviation system.
FAA’s diversity efforts are not new and were not launched under the Biden administration.
Before Trump removed him from the agency website after assuming a position this month, he was at least from 2013, which was also included during Trump’s first term. A similar language that was searching for disabled candidates was on the site during Biden’s tenure and Trump’s first term. Disabilities, identified for special emphasis in hiring, include conditions such as paralysis, epilepsy or missing loops.
During Trump’s first term, the FAA launched a pilot program to prepare people with disabilities for jobs in air traffic operations.
A 2019 announcement expanded a program to enroll 20 people with targeted disabled for one year of training in air traffic control centers, with the ability to appoint a temporary position at the FAA’s academy. It notes that the candidates were subject to equal stringent standards for qualification, medical and safety qualifications as any other candidate. A federal report of 2023 describes the merit.
What do aviation experts say about FAA’s recruitment program?
The FAA says that its aviation development program was required to fulfill the same qualification as any other applicant to hire various candidates in “Mission Critical Occupation”.
Former FAA administrator Michael Whitekar said last year that the FAA searches for qualified candidates from several sources who should fulfill “rigid merit” that differ from the situation.
Paul Hangs, a professor of industrial and organizational psychology at the University of Maryland, in 2013 helped compile a report for FAA documenting obstacles for women and minorities. The agency chased to hire a counseling firm to find the root cause, which led to a change in the process of testing and working – but Hangs said that did not reduce the standards of working.
“It was the same type of protocol, the same cognitive test, but a different version of it,” he said. “I know one thing about FAA that they take public safety very seriously. So I would be surprised that he systematically did the stuff which would put the flying public in danger. I always realized that the job was one. ,
He called Trump’s claim that this week’s accident relates to diversity efforts “an irrational jump.”
“This is something that suits his message, but we do not have data,” he said.
How has the efforts to recruit FAA worked?
As a result of the agency’s recruitment programs, its workforce diversity has been deeply deeply deepened in the last few years. Progress has been especially slow in roles that are considered “mission critical”, including the air traffic controller.
According to the 2023 FAA report on the status of its equal employment opportunity program, the overall workforce of the FAA of more than 44,000 employees remain mainly male.
It had more than 80% of men, in around 18,000 air traffic controllers. The report said that white men set up the largest percentage of air traffic controllers at 64%.
The overall workforce of the FAA also remained mainly white, in which racial minorities were making 30% of their employees.
About 2% of the overall workforce of FAA are more serious disabled people. Among air traffic controllers, less than 1% people are such disabled people.
Trump’s surrogates blamed other recent crises after claims of diversity efforts in this week’s accident, including wildfires destroying Los Angeles, which on diversity, equity and inclusion policies, although no one to support it There is no evidence.
It is a focus that has created anger among Trump and his colleagues who are hurried to use horrific disasters to carry forward their political agenda.
Democratic Sen Dick Darbin specially called Trump to pointing to the finger this week in FAA’s diversity programs: “American people deserve the real north, not the speculation of drugs.”