On Thursday, President Donald Trump blames a deadly collision last week of a passenger plane plane and an army helicopter for what he called a “outdated” computer system used by US air traffic monitors, and pledged to replace it.
“Many mistakes occurred” on January 29 when the American lines flight from Whitchta, Kansas, collided with an army helicopter where the plane was about to land at Ronald Reagan Airport near Washington, killing all 67 people on Board of the plane.
In the wake of the tragedy, Trump blames diversity employment programs. But on Thursday, he blamed the computer system used by the country’s air traffic monitors.
“It is surprising that this happened,” Trump said during a speech at the National Breakfast of Prayer in the Capitol. “I think this will be used for good. I think what will happen is that we will all sit and do a great computerized system for our control towers. The new brand – is not assembled together, outdated.”
Trump said the United States spent billions of dollars in an attempt to “renew an old, broken system” instead of investing in a new system. He said in his own plane, he uses a system from another country when he landed because his pilot says the current system is old.
Transport Minister Sean Duffy and Eileon Musk said in the jobs on X that the Musk team in the Ministry of Governmental efficiency will quickly help upgrade the country’s aviation safety system.
The Federal Aviation Administration has been working since the middle of the first decade of the twentieth century-before a long period of Trump’s first state in the office-to upgrade the air traffic control system through the Nextgen program. Congress approved a law in 2003, which prompted promotions due to concerns about the escalation of air travel congestion and concerns that it would become more preoccupied.
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Jeff Freeman, who heads the American travel industry group, praised Trump’s pledge to replace the current system, saying that the industry has repeatedly called for greater investment in technology and workforce.
Federal officials raise concerns about the superior air traffic control system for employees for years, especially after a series of nearby calls between aircraft at US airports. Among the reasons for which employee deficiency are non -competitive wages, long transformations, intense training and mandatory retirement.
Trump said that if the nation had a new system, the warnings would have appeared when a Black Hawk helicopter, which was in a training exercise, had reached the same plane.
But the FAA report after the accident said that the console had a warning that the plane and the helicopter were converging when it was still more than a mile (1.6 km). The control unit was asked to ask the helicopter whether it had a plane on the horizon and directed the helicopter to pass it behind the plane. The helicopter responded that she had a plane on the horizon.
The early concentration of the investigation confirmed the height of the plane and the helicopter. The aircraft recorder showed a height of 325 feet (99 meters), in addition to or minus 25 feet (7.6 meters).
Data from the airport air traffic control system indicated that the helicopter was higher than the 200 -foot flight (61 meters). NTSB said that the screen was governing that night, based on radar and other data, the helicopter was 300 feet (91 meters).
For more accurate information, investigators need to be able to check the black hawk wreck that is still missing to verify the data. The helicopter is not expected to be recovered until later this week.
This incident was the bloodiest in the United States since November 12, 2001, when it criticized a plane in the New York City neighborhood immediately after taking off, killing all 260 and five people on the ground.
There was concern after the collapse that Trump’s efforts to reduce the size of the federal workforce could exacerbate the lack of air traffic watchers if some of them accepted the postponed resignation offers sent to all federal employees last week. But their veils told air traffic monitors on Thursday that some positions within the Federal Aviation Administration, including their appointments, were exempt.
The National Air Force Watch Association said in its email to members that additional jobs may be exempted based on “National Security or Public Safety of Employees.” The Federation has already recommended its members to reject the offers, which were extended the day before the air collision.
– Reporters of the associated journalists Amer Madihani, Adriana Gomez Lakkon and Thomas Boumont contributed to this report.
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