FAA’s Diversity Policies Under Fire After Deadly Air Collision

[Social Media]

 

An aspiring air traffic controller who says he was denied a job due to diversity-driven hiring practices has spoken out following the tragic collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 and a Black Hawk helicopter in Washington. Andrew Brigida, 35, who excelled in his training exams but was rejected for an air traffic control position, claims the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) prioritized diversity over competence, making a disaster inevitable.  

 

Brigida, who has joined a class-action lawsuit against the FAA, believes years of hiring practices aimed at increasing diversity rather than merit have contributed to safety risks in the aviation industry. “You want to hire the best and the brightest for this kind of job because it is a very stressful job and it can take a toll on you, age you prematurely,” he told The Telegraph. “You want to make sure that the people that are doing it are the best.”  

 

As investigations continue into the disaster, which claimed the lives of 67 people, new details have emerged about the night of the crash. Reports indicate that an air traffic controller left their post early, leaving just one person responsible for overseeing both helicopter and plane traffic—normally a task handled by two individuals. The FAA acknowledged that staffing levels at the time were “not normal for the time of day and the volume of traffic.”  

 

Authorities have recovered the black boxes from both the passenger jet and the helicopter and are analyzing flight data and audio recordings. A preliminary report is expected within 30 days.  

 

Meanwhile, more victims have been identified, including the American Airlines flight crew. Captain Jonathan Campos, 34, and First Officer Samuel Lilley, 28, were confirmed among the deceased, along with flight attendants Ian Epstein, 52, and Danasia Elder. Onboard the Black Hawk, Crew Chief Ryan O’Hara and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Eaves were named, though the female pilot’s identity has not yet been released.  

 

Brigida graduated from Arizona State University’s collegiate training initiative in 2013, a program designed to train and recruit top candidates for the FAA. After scoring 100 percent on his selection exam, he was placed on a preferred candidate list. However, the FAA later changed its hiring process, implementing a biographical questionnaire instead of a skills-based test to attract a more diverse applicant pool. When Brigida reapplied, he claims he failed the questionnaire because he “didn’t fit the preferred ethnic profile.”  

 

Former President Donald Trump also weighed in, blaming the FAA’s hiring policies for the fatal collision. He alleged that individuals with “severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities” had been recruited as air traffic controllers, suggesting that political decisions had compromised aviation safety.  

 

Brigida believes past administrations contributed to the air traffic control staffing crisis by failing to act despite numerous warning signs. “There have been plenty of stories of near miss events that have been the cause of staffing issues, it’s surprising that it’s gone on this long without being properly recognised by the government,” he said.  

 

The lawsuit against the FAA, filed by attorneys from Mountain States Legal Foundation, represents over 2,500 aspiring air traffic controllers who argue that they were unfairly rejected due to the agency’s race-based hiring policies. As the investigation into the crash continues, critics argue that the FAA must reconsider its approach to hiring in order to prevent further tragedies.

 

Based on a report by Daily Telegraph 2025-02-01

 

 

[Bkk Brian]

3 hours ago, Social Media said:

The lawsuit against the FAA, filed by attorneys from Mountain States Legal Foundation, represents over 2,500 aspiring air traffic controllers who argue that they were unfairly rejected due to the agency’s race-based hiring policies. As the investigation into the crash continues, critics argue that the FAA must reconsider its approach to hiring in order to prevent further tragedies.

Interesting information now coming out. This could now expand the whole investigation. I see the third helicopter pilot has also now just been revealed as a female, why did it take so long to tell the public?

 

3 hours ago, Social Media said:

Onboard the Black Hawk, Crew Chief Ryan O’Hara and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Eaves were named, though the female pilot’s identity has not yet been released.

 

[impulse]

23 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

I see the third helicopter pilot has also now just been revealed as a female, why did it take so long to tell the public?

 

Is she an XX female, or an XY female?

 

 

[thaibeachlovers]

3 hours ago, Social Media said:

The FAA acknowledged that staffing levels at the time were “not normal for the time of day and the volume of traffic.”  

So why did they not cancel flights till staffing was at the required level? Seems that along with DEI, safety was no longer a requirement.

 

One hopes the responsibility is given to the actually guilty and not some lower level minion.

 

[OneMoreFarang]

3 hours ago, Social Media said:

following the tragic collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 and a Black Hawk helicopter in Washington

 

Are the investigations already finished why that crash happened? No!

 

I have no problem if DEI politics are cancelled. But nobody should mix up that one with an arial crash for no reason.

 

Imagine after a month they find out all pilots and flight controllers were male and white. Does that mean no white men should be hired anymore?

Or would they find that one of the passengers was a trans and put the blame on that person?

 

Trump and his stupid shooting from the hip make things just worse. 

 

 

[OneMoreFarang]

2 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

So why did they not cancel flights till staffing was at the required level?

Is that what normally happens?

Please tells us from your experience in that job.

Do you have any experience in or around that job?

[impulse]

Here's a more disturbing revelation, if it's accurate, coming from a former ATC:

 

In the old days, before 2010, the immunity program, if an air traffic controller got two airplanes too close, too many times, it would be decertified and retrained,” Pearson said. “Now, they’re not. All they have to do within 48 hours of being noticed or being investigated for a potential separation error, they’re called operational errors in the FAA, the controller simply has to avail themselves of this program that gives them immunity.”

 

“The FAA cannot retrain these people. If somebody has a repetitive instance of malfeasance or lack of competency, the FAA, because of this immunity program, cannot rectify the situation. They have to basically allow the person to remain in the same position,” 

 

I can't help but wonder if they're protecting the incompetent because it impacts certain demographics more than others.  Like the Biden admin suing Sheetz (gas stations) for using a candidate's criminal record as a criterion for hiring them.  Literally because that affects protected demographics.  Ponder that one for a minute...  That's DEI for you.

 

‘Bowing To Wokeness Since 2010’: Fmr Air Traffic Controller Says Short Staffing Is ‘Attributable To Obama Admin’ | The Daily Caller

 

 

[300sd]

4 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

 

Are the investigations already finished why that crash happened? No!

 

I have no problem if DEI politics are cancelled. But nobody should mix up that one with an arial crash for no reason.

 

Imagine after a month they find out all pilots and flight controllers were male and white. Does that mean no white men should be hired anymore?

Or would they find that one of the passengers was a trans and put the blame on that person?

 

Trump and his stupid shooting from the hip make things just worse. 

 

 

You might want to read the last paragraph in the article above! Apparently this DEI regarding ATC qualifications and hiring began during the Obama administration. Too bad Biden wasn't doing some common sense shooting from the hip. Actions have consequences and that DEI political garbage may have helped cause this consequence!

[Will B Good]

The FAA’s policies on hiring people with intellectual disabilities, however, haven’t changed since 2013 – and remained in effect throughout Trump’s first term in office.

[impulse]

10 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

The FAA’s policies on hiring people with intellectual disabilities, however, haven’t changed since 2013 – and remained in effect throughout Trump’s first term in office.

 

Possibly because they kept him so busy fighting off false charges of Russian collusion and 2 (count 'em 2) ridiculous impeachment efforts.   Who's got the time to put Americans' safety first with that going on?

 

[spidermike007]

Trump started this inane dialogue by making this incident political rather than expressing the normal emotion of compassion and sympathy. Many of us know he doesn't experience these kind of emotions being the heartless soul that he is.

 

I've been doing a little bit of research and apparently this is one of the most difficult airports to fly into under the best conditions and it's very crowded airspace. There's a multitude of factors that could be a play here including simple pilot error on the part of the helicopter pilot which appears to be the most likely. If they were wearing night vision goggles it would have reduced their visibility in an area as dense as that urban environment, and could have been one of the causes of this crash, but to just assume that it had anything to do with unfair hiring practices is not only inane, but infantile from a political point of view. 

 

Here is a good analysis from an armed forces helo pilot. 

 

 

 

[WDSmart]

Just please note that no airplane collisions and crashes like this happened while Biden was president.   

[novacova]

3 minutes ago, WDSmart said:

Just please note that no airplane collisions and crashes like this happened while Biden was president.   

Yet a 1st grade graduate can understand that the FAA is still suffering from Biden’s administration’s failure 

[novacova]

8 hours ago, Social Media said:

Brigida graduated from Arizona State University’s collegiate training initiative in 2013, a program designed to train and recruit top candidates for the FAA. After scoring 100 percent on his selection exam, he was placed on a preferred candidate list. However, the FAA later changed its hiring process, implementing a biographical questionnaire instead of a skills-based test to attract a more diverse applicant pool. When Brigida reapplied, he claims he failed the questionnaire because he “didn’t fit the preferred ethnic profile.”

This is a direct indictment of the bigoted raciest policies of the left implemented by the Obama administration and pushed hard by the Biden administration. It’s astounding that in this day and age there are many here on this forum that actually support this digressive archaic insanity.

[billd766]

52 minutes ago, 300sd said:

You might want to read the last paragraph in the article above! Apparently this DEI regarding ATC qualifications and hiring began during the Obama administration. Too bad Biden wasn't doing some common sense shooting from the hip. Actions have consequences and that DEI political garbage may have helped cause this consequence!

Good idea. Blame anybody else except the actual people involved.

 

That always works especially when the investigation has not been completed yet.

 

Do YOU personally have ANY idea why it happened?

 

That is why there is an investigation.

 

Both you and Trump need to keep quiet, until the investigation, carried out by people with far more knowledge has been completed.

[proton]

17 minutes ago, WDSmart said:

Just please note that no airplane collisions and crashes like this happened while Biden was president.   

 

Just had to give it time, if like other agencies fatties, blacks, gays, low IQ's and the lesser abled have been appointed on DEI grounds, rather than appointing the best, this was an accident waiting to happen.

[HK MacPhooey]

Wouldn’t ya know even the Head of the NTSB is female - Jennifer Homendy, but from her Wikipedia page seems she has had no actual experience in ATC or any other aspect of aviation but a lot of previous involvement in labor unionism.

[Hamus Yaigh]

29 minutes ago, novacova said:

This is a direct indictment of the bigoted raciest policies of the left implemented by the Obama administration and pushed hard by the Biden administration.

Hang on a minute, wasn't there a Trump 1.0 administration in between the two you have cherry picked out that could have corrected matters back in 2017-2021?

[JoeRan]

36 minutes ago, novacova said:

Yet a 1st grade graduate can understand that the FAA is still suffering from Biden’s administration’s failure 

And not to mention that Trump fired the FAA Director and Assistant Director leaving the dept empty of leadership. And he blames DEI practices. What a dump America has become. 

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, 300sd said:

and that DEI political garbage may have helped cause this consequence!

Yes, it may have helped.

That is a very big difference to: This only happened because of DEI.

Let's stay real and look at the facts. And the facts from that accident are not yet established. If a detailed analysis finds out that DEI is to blame, ok. But maybe DEI had nothing to do with above. Why mix them together for political reasons? 

[billd766]

51 minutes ago, novacova said:

Yet a 1st grade graduate can understand that the FAA is still suffering from Biden’s administration’s failure 

Really? Then name 10 of them.

[soalbundy]

1 hour ago, impulse said:

 

Possibly because they kept him so busy fighting off false charges of Russian collusion and 2 (count 'em 2) ridiculous impeachment efforts.   Who's got the time to put Americans' safety first with that going on?

 

Either that or golfing.

[billd766]

37 minutes ago, HK MacPhooey said:

Wouldn’t ya know even the Head of the NTSB is female - Jennifer Homendy, but from her Wikipedia page seems she has had no actual experience in ATC or any other aspect of aviation but a lot of previous involvement in labor unionism.

Now look at the people Trump has appointed and what qualifications they hold to do the jobs that they have been appointed to do.

 

You even have a convicted felon, convicted sex offender and serial liar appointed as POTUS.

[Chomper Higgot]

55 minutes ago, proton said:

 

Just had to give it time, if like other agencies fatties, blacks, gays, low IQ's and the lesser abled have been appointed on DEI grounds, rather than appointing the best, this was an accident waiting to happen.

How come  you missed out?

[parallelman]

Certainly according to various outlets the airport seems to be one of the busiest. Just before the collision, one aircraft coming in to land while there is another taking off so the control tower and pilots seem expert enough. My questions would be; how often to military helicopters fly that route? If none, then what was that one doing there in the first place and what was the military helicopter port control instructions?

[impulse]

24 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

Either that or golfing.

 

You've never been in sales or negotiations if you don't realize how much business is transacted on the golf course.

 

Lazing on a Delaware beach with just the Mrs?  Not so much business.

 

[impulse]

31 minutes ago, billd766 said:

Really? Then name 10 of them.

 

I'd suggest you look at the article in VigilantNews entitled Did DEI Hiring Policies Contribute to the Reagan Airport Midair Collision? 

 

Don't even bother to look at their analysis of the facts.  Just the facts...  They passed over thousands of tested, qualified ATC candidates in favor of DEI.  Or was it DIE?

 

[WDSmart]

1 hour ago, proton said:

 

Just had to give it time, if like other agencies fatties, blacks, gays, low IQ's and the lesser abled have been appointed on DEI grounds, rather than appointing the best, this was an accident waiting to happen.

@proton, After reading your response above, I saw a book on DEI that I thought you might like...

[impulse]

51 minutes ago, Hamus Yaigh said:

Hang on a minute, wasn't there a Trump 1.0 administration in between the two you have cherry picked out that could have corrected matters back in 2017-2021?

 

He was distracted by the fake impeachment attempts and Clinton funded Russia Collusion hoax.  That's what happens when the Dems put regaining the WH ahead of protecting Americans.

 

[Thingamabob]

2 hours ago, impulse said:

 

Possibly because they kept him so busy fighting off false charges of Russian collusion and 2 (count 'em 2) ridiculous impeachment efforts.   Who's got the time to put Americans' safety first with that going on?

 

Good point. Better late than never for a thorough review of hiring policy. Surely the fundamental criteria for selecting somebody for work as important as flight traffic control must be to appoint the person best qualified to do the job.