It is the second fatal crash in President Donald Trump’s second term.
Transport Secretary Sean Duffy has been accused of not doing enough to bolster air traffic control staffing levels—something the Federal Aviation Administration tells the Daily Beast is part of its probe into Sunday’s crash, which left two Air Canada pilots dead and dozens of others injured.
Two pilots were killed late Sunday when an Air Canada regional jet struck a fire truck at New York’s LaGuardia Airport.Duffy posted on Monday morning that he was en route to New York to respond to the crash. His replies were filled with harsh criticism of his tenure as secretary, which began with the“You should be doing your job, not running around the country to make Trump praise content for this page,” said Russell Foster, a former Democratic congressional candidate in Texas. “Spend more time working and less time sucking up.” Others pointed out that Sunday night’s crash, involving an Air Canada regional jet and a Port Authority fire truck, came a day after Duffy traveled to New York City to spout administration talking points on Fox & Friends. Prior to his appointment, Duffy hosted a show on Fox Business. “Maybe you should’ve been doing your job instead of going on Fox News simping for Trump,” read the top comment under Duffy’s post, receiving more than 1,000 likes.“Don’t bother,” one reply read. “They need experienced, capable leaders right now—people that understand how to handle emergencies, can mobilize critical resources, and have a functional understanding of aviation. It’s not appropriate to use this tragedy as a photo-op.” Sean Duffy, left, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, right, were both hosts at Fox prior to being appointed by President Donald Trump.Dozens of others called on the secretary, who formerly represented Wisconsin in Congress, to resign if the crash was caused by staffing shortages in air traffic control. “I like Sean Duffy, but if there were not enough ATCs on duty, then this accident is squarely on Duffy & he should humbly resign,” one X user wrote. “After last year’s nighttime crash at DCA, he knew that ATCs were squeezed. He should have suspended all flights at understaffed Airports.” While Sunday’s crash was the first fatal commercial aviation incident of MAGA 2.0, there have been a concerning number of close calls this year.There is no definitive word on what caused Sunday night’s crash just before midnight. However, aviation experts say the LaGuardia tower may have been staffed by a single person, given the late hour, suggesting a staffing shortage may be partly to blame.In air traffic control audio, the controller appears to clear a fire truck to cross LaGuardia’s Runway 04 at Taxiway D. The controller, who has not been named, quickly tried to rescind that clearance as an arriving regional jet was completing its landing on the same runway, but the jet ultimately collided with the truck. Lieutenant Colonel Robert “Buzz” Patterson, a retired Air Force pilot turned author, was shocked to hear reports that air traffic control at such a major airport may have been run by a single controller. “Sounds like the LaGuardia ATC had one guy working ground AND tower,” he wrote. “That’s insane. Of all places, not there!”A conversation with another pilot after the crash captured the controller saying, “I tried to reach out to stop them. We were dealing with an emergency earlier, and I messed up.”ATC recruitment figures and retention of overworked current controllers through $10,000 bonuses. However, Patterson noted that air traffic control staffing issues remain a serious issue. “It was overloaded FAA staff responding to one emergency, which created another emergency,” he said. “Our FAA needs to be staffed with the best-qualified applicants. Period. And pay them!”
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