New Lawsuit Exposes DEI Policies That Played a Role in Deadly Airport Crash

President Donald Trump took aim at the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies on Thursday, following a tragic mid-air collision between a Blackhawk helicopter and American Airlines flight 5342 at Reagan National Airport that left at least 67 people dead.

Speaking from the White House briefing room, Trump criticized the Biden administration’s focus on DEI over merit-based aviation standards, arguing that such priorities could compromise safety. While the cause of Wednesday night’s crash is still under investigation, Trump warned that lowering standards in critical industries like aviation is a dangerous path.

"We must have only the highest standards for those who work in our aviation system," Trump said. "Only the highest aptitude — you have to be the highest intellect — and psychologically superior people, were allowed to qualify for air traffic controllers."

"We have to have our smartest people. It doesn't matter what they look like, how they speak, who they are. What matters is intellect, talent. The word 'talent.' They have to be talented geniuses," he continued. "We can't have regular people doing that job. They won't be able to do it."

Trump also blamed the crash on a "confluence of bad decisions that were made."

This attribution of a host of problems behind the tragic crash jibes with other accounts of experienced pilots who believe there are multiple factors.

One Blackhawk crew chief, Mark McEathron, gave his view of the likely causes behind the crash.

I was a Blackhawk helicopter crew chief in the Army. I was even a Flight Instructor. This means that I trained Crew Chiefs and ensured that they completed all training annually to maintain their flight ratings…

Checking instruments, doing math, reading checklists, and listening to multiple radios all at the same time is HARD. Mistakes happen.

Anyone out there telling you that they find the aircraft collision to be suspect, have NEVER been in a flight crew and they have ZERO idea what they are talking about. Ignore them all. Better yet, mock the hell out of them. 999 times out of 1000 aircraft incidents always come down to a series of pilot and crew errors. Humans are involved. They aren't perfect.

However, we should not overlook there were safety procedures that were ignored or the dangerous situation would likely have never arisen in the first place.

It is critical to look at the military guidelines and the institutional norms that have been implemented as a backdrop. These standard operating procedures are put into place to mitigate the damage that can be caused by “human error.”

Let’s start with the Blackhawk helicopter pilots. It is now being reported that the co-pilot in control of the helicopter was an unnamed woman, while the ranking pilot was Ryan O’Hara.

This was reported to be a night training exercise being run out of Fort Belvoir. The helicopter, a Sikorsky VH-60 often used to transport VIP personnel, was being flown along the Potomac River into the landing area of Reagan National Airport.

It is unclear why a VIP helicopter would be in this specific area at night. I personally talked to a Blackhawk crew supervisor and was able to ascertain additional insight.