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.

President Donald Trump on Thursday blasted the Federal Aviation Administration's DEI standards at a press conference addressing Wednesday night's deadly plane crash in Washington, D.C.

A midair collision near D.C. has raised concerns over FAA staffing, prompting scrutiny of air traffic control and aviation safety oversight.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said late on Thursday he will soon announce a plan to reform the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) after a devastating collision between an American Airlines regional plane and an Army helicopter killed 67 people.

While that office may be ready to go to work, the FAA itself is not fully on the job. That’s because it’s without an administrator. Michael Whitaker, who had led the administration since Oct., 2023, stepped down earlier this month,

The midair collision at Reagan National Airport on Wednesday night has presented Sean Duffy with a major crisis just hours after he was sworn in as secretary of transportation.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy echoed Trump’s remarks about diversity programs, saying “only the best brightest” should hold federal aviation jobs. “We will not accept excuses,” Duffy said. “We will not accept passing the buck.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had been sworn in just hours before the deadly midair collision of a plane and helicopter near Washington, D.C.

The FAA, under the first Trump administration, also tried to increase the hiring of people with targeted disabilities.

Investigators have recovered the black boxes from the American Airlines jet involved in a mid-air collision with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter near Washington, D.C.

A statewide ground stop for interisland flights in and out of Honolulu was placed on Thursday due to low visibility from the strong storm.