OFF Topic but R.I.P. plane crash victims.

[The Bedlington Terrier]

Talk about there but for the grace of God go I.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk

Rest in peace and God's speed to you all.

[Turf_Forever]

Seems like a strange one. BBC news reporting that air traffic control warned the helicopter several times but it did not respond and change path.

[The Bedlington Terrier]

Seems like a strange one. BBC news reporting that air traffic control warned the helicopter several times but it did not respond and change path.

Trump's already in full meltdown mode.

[The Bedlington Terrier]

Surely no-one will try to make political gain on this tragedy?

Donald Trump, who has expressed his desire to privatise air traffic control in recent days, posted on Truth Social in response to the crash: "Thank you for the incredible work being done by our first responders.

"This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!"

[sinkov]

ATC staff have complained of being overworked in this sector. As Trump says, it shouldn't have happened and it's imperative to find out why it did. Nothing to do with politics.

[The Bedlington Terrier]

ATC staff have complained of being overworked in this sector. As Trump says, it shouldn't have happened and it's imperative to find out why it did. Nothing to do with politics.

Helicopter did not have it's crash indicator on by all accounts and was told to get the hell out of there by ATC.

But Donald Trump now appears to be ad-libbing and is using the briefing to make political points.

He says he will "restore faith in American air travel" but hits out at the Federal Aviation Administration, criticising what he says are rules on who can work in air traffic control and government diversity efforts.

"My administration will set the highest possible bar for aviation safety," he says, adding you need a "very special genius" to coordinate air traffic.

Instead, he says the FAA was "actively recruiting workers who suffer severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems and other mental and physical conditions".

[sinkov]

Helicopter did not have it's crash indicator on by all accounts and was told to get the hell out of there by ATC.

But Donald Trump now appears to be ad-libbing and is using the briefing to make political points.

He says he will "restore faith in American air travel" but hits out at the Federal Aviation Administration, criticising what he says are rules on who can work in air traffic control and government diversity efforts.

"My administration will set the highest possible bar for aviation safety," he says, adding you need a "very special genius" to coordinate air traffic.

Instead, he says the FAA was "actively recruiting workers who suffer severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems and other mental and physical conditions".

The above is true, Mr Trump is not ad-libbing, ATC recruitment has already been hi-jacked and politicised by the woke PC Brigade of Obama and Biden.

"The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had been actively recruiting staff with ?severe intellectual? disabilities and psychiatric problems as part of a diversity and inclusion drive, according to now-deleted guidelines from the agency?s website.

?Targeted disabilities are those disabilities that the federal government, as a matter of policy, has identified for special emphasis in recruitment and hiring,? the FAA?s website read. ?They include hearing, vision, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, psychiatric disability and dwarfism.? The guidelines on diversity and hiring were last updated in March 2022, during the Biden administration, according to reports."

Under the Obama administration in 2013, the FAA scrapped a skills-based test and a certification programme, and replaced it with a biographical questionnaire to attract more diverse applicants to become air traffic controllers. It was later replaced with a biographical assessment which critics say was designed to attract more minorities while penalising other candidates. During Mr Trump?s first administration, the FAA spent millions of dollars on its civil rights budget to promote diversity.

Analysis of the agency?s budget submission from Mr Trump?s first presidency shows the federal government authorised spending nearly $13 million on the FAA?s office of civil rights in both 2018 and 2019. The FAA also included a page on its website from 2019 stating that it places ?special emphasis? on hiring people with disabilities."

Mr Trump is simply pointing out that 'playing politics' with recruitment of ATC staff has now had fatal consequences.

[sinkov]

"‘Diversity hiring cost me job at FAA, a crash was inevitable’, claims whistleblower after accident. Aspiring air traffic controller speaks out following deadly collision between American Airlines flight 5342 and helicopter in Washington"

"An aspiring air traffic controller who claims he was denied a job because of diversity targets said the aviation agency’s obsession with inclusion made an accident likely to happen. Andrew Brigida, 35, scored 100 per cent in his training exam but claims he was denied a position in an air traffic control tower because the recruitment process of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) favoured diverse candidates. He is part of a class action lawsuit filed against the federal agency."

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/...as-inevitable/

[The Bedlington Terrier]

Nowt to do with an errant helicopter pilot then mon ami?

I wondered how long it would be for the right wing whack jobs to blame ATC. Where the controllers black by any chance?

[The Bedlington Terrier]

The above is true, Mr Trump is not ad-libbing, ATC recruitment has already been hi-jacked and politicised by the woke PC Brigade of Obama and Biden.

"The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had been actively recruiting staff with ?severe intellectual? disabilities and psychiatric problems as part of a diversity and inclusion drive, according to now-deleted guidelines from the agency?s website.

?Targeted disabilities are those disabilities that the federal government, as a matter of policy, has identified for special emphasis in recruitment and hiring,? the FAA?s website read. ?They include hearing, vision, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, psychiatric disability and dwarfism.? The guidelines on diversity and hiring were last updated in March 2022, during the Biden administration, according to reports."

Under the Obama administration in 2013, the FAA scrapped a skills-based test and a certification programme, and replaced it with a biographical questionnaire to attract more diverse applicants to become air traffic controllers. It was later replaced with a biographical assessment which critics say was designed to attract more minorities while penalising other candidates. During Mr Trump?s first administration, the FAA spent millions of dollars on its civil rights budget to promote diversity.

Analysis of the agency?s budget submission from Mr Trump?s first presidency shows the federal government authorised spending nearly $13 million on the FAA?s office of civil rights in both 2018 and 2019. The FAA also included a page on its website from 2019 stating that it places ?special emphasis? on hiring people with disabilities."

Mr Trump is simply pointing out that 'playing politics' with recruitment of ATC staff has now had fatal consequences.

This is 100% bollox and well you know it.