#21: What I mean when I say an aviation accident must not be political

Within hours after the mid-air collision last night between American Airlines flight 5342 in a Bombardier CRJ700 and a U.S. Army Sikorsky H-60 helicopter on a training flight, the narrative on this accident took a decidedly political turn.

The accident occurred over the Potomac River while flight 5342 was on final approach for Reagan National and the Sikorsky was transiting the airspace. This is some of the busiest airspace in the U.S. and, because Reagan National is in Washington DC, in a unique political environment. Here’s a bit from The Lever on what I mean by that:

Several points to be clear on for the investigation:

1. The NTSB does not investigate military accidents, so for this investigation to be effective the Department of Defense will have to allow access to the NTSB to its aircraft, pilot training records, etc. and not hold anything back. I’m sure you can understand why I am worried about this happening.

2. Politicians are going to have to stay out of the NTSB’s way. That means press conferences need to focus solely on the work the NTSB is doing, and supporting that work and the families of the deceased. I’m sure you can understand why I am also worried about this happening.

3. The FAA is always a party to these investigations, especially when the aircraft involved were actively in communication with Air Traffic Control. There is a standard series of actions that are taken when ATC personnel are involved (meaning they were talking to the pilots, directing them on a specific route, etc.). The FAA has to make their personnel available to the NTSB for interview, along with transcripts, staffing records, etc. With so much confusion over the course of the day over who was even running the FAA, I’m really worried about what folks are being told by higher ups over there.

4. One of the best rundowns I’ve seen so far of what might have caused this accident is with James Fallows on his substack. Take a look - he has an embedded youtube video done with the ATC transcript. This makes a lot of sense and, as I mentioned on bluesky last night, altitude (with the helo) is a big question.

Understaffing at the FAA is not new

A big question I have right now is how the NY Times was leaked a preliminary FAA report about staffing at Reagan National at the time of the accident. A lot has been written and said today about how that report notes staffing was “not normal”. Everyone needs to realize that it is possible “not normal” staffing has been typical for this airport for weeks, months or even years. Consider what this 2023 DOT OIG report had to say on ATC staffing nationwide:

FAA understaffing is not a new problem; it’s a very old one and it’s all about money and not wanting to pay people to do the job that is demanded of them.

Beyond ATC, I just wrote an Op-Ed for the industry publication Leeham News (sub required) about FAA staffing overall. In that article, and another I have submitted for review to a different publication, I stressed how understaffed FAA Flight Standards District Offices (FSDOs) are and how it is causing inspectors to spend far less time in the field on oversight. It’s a problem everywhere, but Alaska is the worst. One of the things in researching FAA understaffing I have found again and again is the description of staffing which is “not normal”. For example, in the 2020 Island Express Helicopters crash that killed Kobe Bryant and eight others, there were only two operations inspectors at the Long Beach FSDO and should have been six. When asked about his workload, the company’s Principal Operations Inspector said he had oversight of four Part 133 operators, four Part 137, nine Part 135, a Part 141 flight school and at least fifty Part 91 operators. This would be considered “not normal” but it’s standard in the FAA today. (Don’t even get me started on how heavy the workloads are in Alaska.)

Is it possible that there was a sudden shortage of controllers at Reagan National last night? Sure. But I’m more inclined to believed they have not had normal staffing levels for some time (just look at the graph above). ATC and FSDO understaffing has been business as usual for years, not because the controllers or inspectors want it this way, and not because the FAA wants it this way, but because it costs money to staff federal agencies and if all you want to do is cut budgets then staffing is going to suffer.

Now think about all the things that have been said in the past decade about cutting the federal budget. It’s what gets you to “not normal” staffing levels in ATC and many other places. Safety costs money. I’m from Alaska, I research and write about Alaska aviation on a daily basis. We know in Alaska, more than any other place in the national airspace system, what happens when aviation safety is not fully funded. It’s a very sad story with no positive ending in sight without the needed funds.

What I mean when I talk about politics infecting flight safety

The only discussions that should be happening right now are about the loss of life and the NTSB investigation. Speculation, especially about the quality of ATC personnel, is a waste of time and only exists to fuel political points. And this…this is such obvious political theater that I don’t know how anyone can think it is an example of actual governance:

The things politicians and political appointees are saying about this accident are not simply useless, but detrimental to the investigation’s effectiveness. If the NTSB can not follow the investigation wherever it leads - including and through the Department of Defense - then it will be a meaningless endeavor. Politicians need to get out of the way. There is a methodical process unfolding right now with people leading it who are abundantly aware of how to do their jobs. I want to see what they find out and what it tells us about how this accident occurred.

If politics takes control of the investigation and the NTSB is prevented from doing its job then flight safety will be negatively impacted in a way that has never happened in the country. We will all suffer if that happens. No one should be getting away with assertions right now about ATC diversity and competence. They don’t know what they are talking about and they should be called out for it the moment it happens.

Finally, PenAir flight 3296 was in 2019 and it was a commercial airline fatality accident

Flight 3296 was a scheduled Saab 2000 flight that operated under FAR Part 121, the exact same set of regulations as American Airlines 5342. There was a fatality in this crash, a passenger named Daniel Oltman. I talked to people onboard the aircraft, including one who tried to save Mr. Oltman’s life. I have written a lot about this crash (this is a good overview of the probable cause which I had issues with) and just because it happened in Alaska does not mean that far too many journalists have an excuse to ignore its existence. Spend two minutes reading about it and please, get this country’s flight safety story straight. There was a fatality crash just four and half years ago.

*steps off soapbox*
*Alaskans are really sick and tired of being treated like we don’t matter when it comes to aviation*

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