Opinion
The American Airlines Crash, Is Trump Trumpeting A Wrong Narrative—From California Wildfires To The Aviation Disaster, Is Blaming DEI For Everything Justified?
A deadly collision on Wednesday night between a Black Hawk military helicopter and an American Airlines subsidiary’s CRJ700 regional jet—killing 67 people—was a disaster waiting to happen.
Ask any commercial pilot, and they’ll tell you that near misses like these aren’t rare. Helicopters hovering too close, air traffic control issuing last-minute warnings, pilots making split-second maneuvers to avoid catastrophe—it’s a regular hazard. And if you think this is something that happens only at night, think again. Day or night, pilots landing at Reagan Washington National Airport have to deal with this madness.
The airport’s approach is a nerve-wracking experience. Planes must navigate a razor-thin flight path to avoid restricted airspace around the White House and Pentagon. Most pilots agree that the turn from the eastern side along the river into runway 33 is very, very tight, referring to the same strip where the American Airlines jet was headed before slamming into the Black Hawk.
As of now, no one knows what exactly caused the crash. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and the U.S. Army are investigating, but aviation disasters are rarely the result of a single issue—it’s usually a chain reaction of failures.
Pilots who regularly land at Reagan say the airport is a different beast altogether. It’s not just the congested airspace—it’s also the fact that commercial pilots can’t communicate directly with military aircraft, which operate on separate radio frequencies. Add to that the airport’s shorter-than-usual runways, including runway 33, which is mostly reserved for smaller planes.
Now, about the Black Hawk—data from FlightRadar24 shows it was on a training flight, flying at around 300 feet when the crash happened.
Pilots rely on TCAS (Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System) to avoid mid-air disasters, but there’s a catch—TCAS stops issuing commands once a plane drops below 1,100 feet. That means in those crucial moments before landing, pilots are essentially flying blind when it comes to collision warnings.
Thus, it’s a flight path with little room for error and sadly, on Wednesday night, the odds ran out.
How Fair Is It to Blame the American Airlines Crash on DEI?
Ever since Trump returned to office, he’s been on a warpath against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. And now, every failure, every mishap—even a tragic midair collision—is somehow being pinned on DEI and the Biden administration.
Sure, DEI programs may not be perfect, but blaming everything on them? That’s a stretch.
Trump, never one to let facts get in the way, went all in on Thursday, claiming—without a shred of evidence—that the deadly crash near Reagan National Airport happened because the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is prioritizing diversity over competence. He made the claim at a White House press conference meant to address the tragedy.
The fact is that the cause of the crash isn’t even known yet. No evidence suggests DEI efforts had anything to do with it. But that didn’t stop Trump from launching into his usual talking points, taking aim at the FAA for hiring “people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities.” According to him, air traffic controllers need to be “at the highest level of genius,” and diversity hiring, in his words, is compromising that.
When pressed on how he could blame DEI without knowing the facts, Trump simply said, because I have common sense!
However, a former FAA official quickly shot down these claims, reminding everyone that air traffic controllers go through rigorous mental and physical testing before getting hired. Aviation safety experts, disability rights groups, and Democratic lawmakers also slammed Trump’s comments as baseless and dangerous.
But this is bigger than just one press conference. Trump has been hellbent on gutting every diversity program in government since day one. Last week, he signed an order eliminating all federal DEI offices and even put DEI staff on paid leave while their departments face closure. And now, following this crash, he’s directed his administration to purge diversity initiatives in aviation safety roles.
The people actually investigating the crash, like National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy, said they are focused on facts—not politics stating a thorough investigation takes time and the focus is on human, the machine, and the environment error.
And let’s be clear—this was the deadliest U.S. air disaster in over two decades. Sixty-four passengers and three soldiers lost their lives. This isn’t the time for political point-scoring.
Trump’s Favorite Scapegoat, Is Blaming DEI for Everything Justified?
Donald Trump has found his favorite punching bag—Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). And if you ask him, it’s responsible for pretty much everything wrong with America today. From Californian wildfires to plane crashes, DEI is, apparently, the villain of the decade.
But this isn’t new. Trump has been on a rampage against DEI initiatives ever since stepping back into office. He’s called them a distraction, a risk, and even an outright danger. According to him, inclusivity is somehow compromising the competence of air traffic controllers, firefighters, and even military personnel.
Take California’s wildfires, for example. When devastating blazes ripped through the state, experts pointed to climate change, poor forest management, and extreme weather. Trump? He blamed DEI, arguing that California was too focused on hiring “diverse” personnel instead of people who know how to put out fires. Never mind that firefighting teams are highly trained professionals. Facts don’t seem to matter when there’s an easy political target.
Now, with the plane crash, he’s following the same playbook—turning a national tragedy into another excuse to dismantle DEI. He’s already signed an order eliminating federal DEI offices, put diversity-focused employees on paid leave, and is now pushing for a rollback of any DEI-related hiring practices in aviation safety.
But here’s the reality—Air traffic controllers and aviation officials go through intense, rigorous testing before they’re hired. Safety isn’t about race, gender, or background—it’s about training and experience. And yet, Trump continues to push the idea that diversity efforts are making America less safe.
