The Plane-Helicopter Crash
I’m a pilot. Not current, haven’t been for some time, but the convention is that once you get a pilot’s license, you’re a pilot for life. That doesn’t mean you can fly a plane any time – you have to have a current physical and okay for the type of license. I’m just saying this to indicate that I have some knowledge and also some feelings about what is happening.
One of the things you learn as a pilot is not to jump to conclusions when something goes wrong. There are many, many ways to misinterpret things. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigates airplane accidents, and their word is authoritative. So when I commented on Bluesky this morning, that was what I started with. You might find that whole thread interesting.
The problem is that an investigation takes time, often more than a year. That leaves space for speculation. But the convention among pilots and others in the know helps to damp down that speculation.
However, last night and this morning a person with no knowledge of those conventions felt it necessary to open his yap. Last night, Donald Trump proclaimed that the helicopter was at fault in the crash, and this morning he broadened that out to his favorite, DEI. Did he know when he said that that one of the pilots was a woman? It hardly matters – he went on about an FAA policy of hiring disabled people, whom he has denigrated in the past.
I think I also saw the video that led Trump to his impassioned post last night. It is horrifying. But the angle from which one is looking makes a difference in how speeds and locations are perceived. Similarly, a very incomplete recording of tower communications has been released, which is also ambiguous. We will have to wait for the NTSB.
Trump’s aides seem to have toned him down a bit this morning, and he had a statement to read. David Sanger’s account of the press conference reveals his shock at Trump’s blaming. Sanger understands the convention.
President Trump blamed diversity requirements at the Federal Aviation Administration and his two Democratic predecessors for the midair collision over the Potomac River on Wednesday night, saying that standards for air traffic controllers had been too lax.
Mr. Trump cited no evidence, and even admitted when pressed that the investigation had only just begun.
Moments later, he blamed the pilots of the Army helicopter that appeared to fly into a passenger jet that was on final approach to Reagan National Airport, across the river from the capital.
Mr. Trump went back and forth between blaming diversity goals that he said were created by President Barack Obama and President Joseph R. Biden Jr., and then saying that an investigation was necessary.
His instant focus on diversity reflected his instinct to immediately frame major events through his political or ideological lens, whether the facts fit or not.
James Fallows is also a pilot. I recommend his writeups if you’re trying to understand the accident. He will say that we must wait for the NTSB report, but he will highlight and interpret the news. Here’s his post from last night.
Update: Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett just posted a thread on Bluesky.