From "Army Withholds Identity of Helicopter Pilot Killed in Crash/The names of two male crew members were released, but the family of the third aviator requested privacy" (NYT).
Much of this was an attack on the FAA's diversity and inclusion hiring plan....
This reminds me of the Trump we saw during the Covid crisis. He just keeps going and going, as if he were talking with his advisers in a private room. It's so unfiltered. It's good to get more access to the President and to hear his thoughts, but the crash just happened, so many people died, and so many people are sensitive about the problems related to diversity. Why be so raw? Is he choosing to do this to us or can he just not help it?
I think he's choosing to do this and deserves to be held to account for merging this disaster with his larger anti-DEI enterprise, but let's be accurate. We don't know that what he said was "without evidence." He knows the identity of the helicopter pilot, and there's certainly evidence that the pilot was to blame — perhaps not conclusive evidence, but evidence. He had access to all the Army's information about the unnamed woman, and we don't know that it did not contain specifics about the justifiability of her advancement. As long as we don't know whether there was some evidence, and it's wrong to write "without evidence." If you want to hold Trump to a high standard of evidence, you must yourself follow a high standard.
By the way, does it seem to you that Trump's anti-DEI efforts have stirred little objection from the general public? Are people stunned by the shock-and-awe intensity of the change and unable to speak? Am I missing protests occurring somewhere? Are people quietly accepting the inevitable, even as they genuinely believe what they were taught — that meritocracy is racist and sexist? Or are people actually appreciating Trump's actions and even his statements and glad the orange monster is taking the heat?
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82 comments:
"Pete Hegseth, the newly confirmed defense secretary, has said that the military has diminished its standards by welcoming women and racial minorities into its ranks."
No, he didn't. He has said that the military has diminished its standards in order to welcome less-qualified women and minorities. It's an entirely different statement, and one that is factual.
Trump's characteristic raw, unfiltered style of speaking may make him an insensitive jerk at times, but in an event that resulted in the death of 67 people, the family does NOT have the right of privacy. The truth regarding all the circumstances has the prevailing right. Sorry, we need the name and the records.
Using this disaster to blame DEI without evidence is like using the LA wildfires to blame climate change without evidence. Or immediately blaming lax gun country for a shooting. This is unfortunately common political practice.
The trouble with criticism of meritocracy is, as Sowell would say: “compared to what?” Compared to hereditary aristocracy, explicit race or sex based discrimination, nepotism, partisan croneyism? The strength of meritocracy is that it really does reward, or even ensure, merit. The people selected through a meritocratic process may have been born rich, or gone to good schools, etc., but they Have been selected by being good at what they do.
“ How does the NYT know what evidence Trump has seen?”
The NYT doesn’t care the facts when it comes to Trump.
More likely than not, pilot error. But ATC is supposed to prevent crashes due to pilot error. “Helio you are too high. Reduce altitude immediately!
Secretary Pete allowed ATC around the country to be understaffed. Pete bears full responsibility. He couldn’t concern himself with air safety because he was too busy not building EV charging stations.
Pete needs to answer to the public.
"By the way, does it seem to you that Trump's anti-DEI efforts have stirred little objection from the general public?"
Perhaps more people are coming to realize that society has sacrificed standards and performance on the altar of diversity.
Your analogy is correct. If you're going to assert blame, you need to cite your evidence. If you do not yet have the evidence, don't assert blame until you do.
Your questions highlight the most pernicious thing about DEI. We know people have agitated for more women in the military and more female pilots. We know the infamous 'goals and timetables' have been established. We know individuals and organizations are evaluated on their adherence to the goals and timetables. We know you get what you measure in an organization. We'll never know the impact this had on that woman's career but we'll never be able to say it had no impact either.
The reason the Army gave for withholding the name, we're told, was "her family’s request for privacy." And "It is unclear what specifically motivated the aviator’s family to make the request."
What evidence do we have that any of the above is true? Sure, the Army said it, but does the NYTs know who the family is? Has anyone in the press talked to the family?
Reason I ask is I sometimes wonder if Trump is running this whole thing like the producer of a reality TV show. Withholding the name would fit a “big reveal” episode for later on - you build suspense and interest by withholding, then make the big reveal?
Do I think it most likely? Not sure. Do I think Trump would never do that? No I don’t.
100% correct hawkeyedjb. But this isn’t new. Thirty years ago Lieutenant Kara Hultgreen died when she mishandled the landing f her F-14 Tomcat. It turned out that the Navy was so eager to have a female fighter pilot that she was allowed to pass her training despite the fact that she should have washed out. They should have waited until a woman did measure up.
Christopher B eat me to it. Thanks to Diversity Uber Alles, they're going to be blamed whether it's justified or not.
Are we not going to mention the poor(?) National Guard transwoman pilot who was accused on X as being the aviator referred to? That person had to make a statement to assure us that she was not involved.
The sad double edge sword strikes. My spouse, a brilliant person and the best manager I ever observed, was a "first" multiple times as she advanced in a male dominated agency. She was, on merit, selected to serve on numerous national committees. She often came back telling me things like, "This time they discovered I was not selected because I was a woman by the afternoon break."
Affirmative action led many to make such assumptions. That is particularly true when the AA was applied as a blunt instrument.
DEI appears to be worse, far worse. So many will assume the pilot was less than highly qualified. When the Army withholds the name of the female pilot they make that assumption worse, much worse.
These are almost the same statement. With physical tasks, the strongest females are routinely weaker than the near-weakest males. Also see research of limited female endurance. Welcoming women beyond perhaps 1% or 5% can equate to diminished standards. So, they can never get close to the "equal representation" of 50% that is the goal of many equity programs.
In an accident that killed 67 people, the family’s request for privacy should be rejected. What the fuck, who is this family that gets to keep critical information hidden?
No one is blaming the other two people in the helicopter, and withholding the third person's name just highlights her. Accidents can happen, and then we go back and figure out WHY. If DEI is to blame, we need to know. It wouldn't have been her fault if she was promoted beyond her capability. (Frankly, it seems to me that the blame is more likely in the ATC tower.)
Also, please note that much of Trump's rambling style during COVID turned out to be RIGHT. We could have treated blood with UV light, and we could have tried other treatments. It's the press that consistently exaggerated and deliberately misinterpreted what he said. There's absolutely no doubt that he is gutted over the deaths and very, very much wants to see this not happen again. Part of doing that means a blunt assessment of the things that went wrong, as painful as it might be.
The instructor pilot had 1000 hours. The pilot in training had 500 hours. I'm not a fan of the FAA policy of requiring 1500 hours versus 750 hours to be an airline transport captain. That rule was changed after the Colgan Air crash in 2009. None of these military aviators had the 1500 hours entering this busy airport at a very busy time of day.
My point is that "fairly experienced crew" isn't a knock at sex or gender. That route and airspace would be challenging for any pilot with well over 500 hours. 500 hours is a lot of hours, but I'm sure we will find the civilian flight crew had a lot more hours.
You can train women to fly anything - simulators make it easy to train - and drill procedures into them, but women don't obsess on the job like men. As I say, airplanes are so easy to fly these days that girls do it.
I used to spend hundreds of hours in the pattern to practice wheel landings on the numbers every time in any wind, because it was cool. That's a unification of man and airplane feeling driving it. That's what's missing with women, who advance by moving to more complex airplanes and ordinary performance.
By the way, does it seem to you that Trump's anti-DEI efforts have stirred little objection from the general public?
Little objection, Professor? Try massive support.
Are people stunned by the shock-and-awe intensity of the change and unable to speak? Am I missing protests occurring somewhere?
No and no, Professor. We normal people are fully supportive. The facts that have come out about the DEI mayor of Los Angeles, not to mention the DEI fire chief and DEI deputy chiefs and the $750,000 salaried DEI head of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, who fidn’t even know that a 127 million hallow reservoir was empty and had been empty for almost a full year, does not help the case for DEI.
Are people quietly accepting the inevitable, even as they genuinely believe what they were taught — that meritocracy is racist and sexist?
Professor, what makes you think anyone — anyone normal, that is —- believes meritocracy is “racist and sexist”? It’s perhaps natural that you think prople should believe what university professors tell them, but the credibility of professors is, deservedly, in the toilet.
Or are people actually appreciating Trump's actions and even his statements and glad the orange monster is taking the heat?
Bingo! He is the tip of our spear.
It used to be 250 hours and worked fine. It gave the airlines a chance to knock out bad habits before they became permanent. The Colgan crash wasn't caused by inexperience but by a just-released NASA videoM on tailplane icing, which the pilots believed had happened to them, and they took the recovery procedures it recommended.
I think he's choosing to do this and deserves to be held to account for merging this disaster with his larger anti-DEI enterprise, but let's be accurate.
Okay, let’s hold him to account: If he believes people have been hired and promoted into positions above their abilities because of DEI and those people are killing themselves and random others, I want him working to stop the policy. Quickly. Also pointing out examples of why it’s a bad policy. Quickly, so fewer of us are exposed to the dangers…
I don’t care about what kind of heat Trump takes I want the policy to stop so people aren’t exposed to the dangers of it…
I see I’m not the only one who believes Ann’s soliloquy supports what Trump is doing…
Why does DEI have the effect of lowering standards? Supply and demand.
Once a non-white-male becomes a hot commodity, guess what? There aren't as many (yes, there are just as many white females as white males, but probably not as many who have an interest in the job you're trying to fill).
So then you are competing for the best of an already small population. If Albanian dwarves are hot, then the military, the airlines, academia, big business, etc, are trying to get the best Albanian dwarf they can find, and offering big pay packets, benefits, etc, to attract them.
And only one of them can get the best Albanian dwarf. The rest have to settle for less able Albanian dwarves, or eventually just any Albanian dwarf who walks in the door.
Then everyone starts associating Albanian dwarves with suboptimal performance.
There are perfectly Constitutional ways to increase workforce diversity, but they take work. Do outreach, give aptitude tests, take the ones who score high on the aptitude tests and provide extra training to make up for the lack of such training in whatever minority community it is, then unleash the trained-up candidates to compete with the general population.
The military pioneered these techniques during mass drafts, and also by establishing the academy prep schools, as well as when it expanded special operations for the GWOT ("hey, you're in pretty good shape. Can you swim? I think we can teach you...."). But you can easily adopt these techniques for any job. Coding? Come up with an aptitude test where people have to work puzzles or something else that correlates with designing algorithms and processes. Give the high scorers a nerd boot-camp course, then hire the best performers. Pay them a little more at each step of the process to encourage them to stay the course. A hundred bucks just to take the aptitude test. 300 a week for the boot camp. Guaranteed first year's salary, even if you prove completely inept (we do this with a lot of DEI hires for a lot longer anyway, so no net loss there).
JSM
Regarding the role of DEI in this tragic crash, I am repeating verbatim a comment I made yesterday in response to a comment by Earnest Prole:
“Actually, Earnie, DEI did lead to the crash of the plane and helicopter at Reagan National Airport. One way DEI could have done that is if the controller on duty was under-qualified. That may or may not have been the case with this controller — certainly he made a mistake in not telling the helo pilot that the plane to avoid was at their 11 o’clock (left front) and was landing (so would be low over the river).
But another way DEI could have caused the crash is if the controllers are understaffed because the agency is looking for qualified people with the correct gender, ethnicity, or skin color while deliberately excluding well-qualified white males. There is ample evidence that this is the case. Literally thousands of white males have applied and been turned down, meanwhile the authorized staffing for that airport is 30 while the actual staffing is 19. And only a single controller was handling takeoffs (on runway 1), landings (on runway 33), and the helicopter (on a different frequency). The normal cruising speed of a Blackhawk is 174 mph and the landing speed for a CRJ700 is 135 knots (156 mph). The two aircraft could well have been approaching each other at a combined speed of something like 330 mph. No room for error, but errors were made.
Just because Trump said something doesn’t make it wrong.”
Indeed. It's not just a misrepresentation of Hegseth's position, but a complete lie. The NYT is deliberately attempting to muddy the waters while smearing critics of DEI.
The blame for this particular accident is a policy that isn't well thought out, namely giving a pilot authority to maintain visual separation at night. At night, you can't see the airplane that you're going to collide with because its lights are not moving relative to city lights so it looks like empty airspace. You can see airplanes that you're not going to collide with, though, for instance the following jet in the pattern that was no threat in any case.
Looking at the plots of ADS-B tracks, the collision was near perpendicular. The airliner crew was executing a visual (non-precision) approach to runway 33. From their perspective, the helicopter was approaching from their 2 or 3 o’clock. Only the copilot would’ve had a chance to see the helicopter, but he was probably looking forward towards the runway. We don’t know whether the pilot was the Pilot Flying. If it was the copilot, he most definitely would’ve been looking at the runway as they were probably less than a minute from landing.
From the helicopter’s perspective, the airliner was at their 9 to 10 o’clock. Most helicopter pilots fly in the right seat, so the pilot likely was unable to see the airliner. We don’t know if the female pilot was in the left or right seat. Regardless, even the pilot in the left seat or perhaps the crew chief would’ve had a chance to see the airliner. If the were wearing NVGs, they would’ve had a reduced field of view.
As for why the helicopter was higher than its 200 foot ceiling, it could’ve been simple pilot error. It could’ve been instrument failure. I’m sure the NTSB will be looking into the calibration history of the helicopter’s altitude measuring equipment. In addition, the pilots may have entered the barometric pressure setting incorrectly or have been given an incorrect pressure setting. An error of 0.1” would result in an altitude error of 100 feet.
Woman can be perfectly good, even excellent pilots, no different than men. But because of programs such as DEI, people can't help but suspect they are less qualified. Feminists should find this insulting, yet we know that is not the case.
I've landed at DCA dozens of times at all hours of the day. It's a super busy airport with commercial, private, military and local law enforcement air traffic. What shocks me about this incident is not that the military helicopter was at the same altitude as the CRJ but that it was anywhere near the direct line landing path of that runway. What the hell kind of policy allows that? It's like allowing catering and fuel trucks to crisscross active runways and hoping that they see the landing jets before they plow into them.
The Althouse community knows plenty about aviation!
Exactly the sentence and blatant smear that caught my eye. It's very telling that the Leftist Media have to smear people and "paraphrase" their quotes to obscure the simple truth Trump and his appointees keep saying: "we shouldn't have lowered our standards."
Since it is irrefutable, especially when it comes to aviation and other critical factors, they have to hide the actual statements.
What Trump said was 100% true and when phrased by a reporter very similar to your statement he explicitly said we don't know and he hopes not. Buttigieg explicitly said many times that diversity was his highest priority. Not safety. Transportation must be accomplished safely. Trump is correct to keep the focus on that.
In addition we don't know what information Trump had at that point but some has trickled out to the public confirming his position on DEI.
Rising to 400 ft in an area with a 200 ft maximum is pilot inattentiveness, presumably what is being practiced. One more thing to keep under control while doing something else.
Hmmm, what if she WAS a DEI hire? It would make sense then that those in the military responsible for her flying that helicopter would need time to alter/delete records to show it wasn't THEIR fault. And it would give the family time to scrub any social media accounts and any other records that showed that she really wasn't qualified to be a helicopter pilot.
Of course, it really could be that the family just wants to avoid the intense scrutiny the pilot of the aircraft that deviated from it's proscribed flight path (fly this route at this height) and caused a mass casualty event would accrue. But in this case I don't think that's even remotely possible.
At bottom, DEI is based on the assumption that people are entitled to something, and that no matter how difficult it is, standards are de facto adjusted to make that possible. Pretending that is not true is intellectually dishonest, and can be lethal. What makes it more insidious is that the results of DEI propagate through the system, and the actual point of failure may be upstream several levels. As with much that has happened in this area, the genesis can usually be traced back to the Obama years, both with respect to military and civilian government operations.
The key thing is that the jets lights would not be moving as seen by a helicopter on a collision course with it. Constant bearing means collision. The "stationary" lights would look like empty airspace.
remember the last time someone killed scores of people, and their name was not released..
because of the wishes of the family?
Me neither
I agree that Colgan crew wasn’t inexperienced, both having over 1500 hours, but it was used as the excuse to raise the numbers. I’ve seen various podcast editorials on the subject, and I’m on the side that the standard was set too high, because it allows habits to be developed that are fine if not proper for smaller aircraft, but bad when transferring to commercial airlines.
Larry, I watched Ward Carroll’s commentary last night. He was talking about crew positions. My only problem is we don’t know who was shooting the approach for the CRJ. It probably was the Captain, but the FO could be doing it. Since the military helicopter flight was a trainee flight, then we have more of an idea of who was controlling it. I’m quite worried about the NV goggles component as that seems a bad idea in that flight environment. I also think they could have run the mission an hour later with significantly less traffic.
As they say, to ask the question as to why this woman's identity isn't being revealed is to know the answer. I'm assuming they need to scrub a few things.
Critical Diversity Theory (CDT)
DEI is institutional, systemic Diversity (i.e. class-disordered ideologies), including: racism, sexism, etc.
Can they choose to abort the baby, cannibalize her profitable parts, sequester her carbon pollutants, and have her, too?
Most think that the talk of D.E.I. was about the pilot of the copter. My thoughts went to the tower not being fully staffed. Later I found the tower was not fully staffed. My suspicion was that it was not filled due to its composition not being quite right in all D.E.I. requirements. Mainly dudes who like fast-moving video games do that job.
Exactly, Mike!
The issue is not race or sex, but rather selecting for race or sex, and class generally. Diversity is an umbrella philosophy for class-disordered ideologies, including: racism, sexism, etc. DEI is institutional, systemic Diversity.
That said, diversity of individuals, minority of one. #HateLovesAbortion
My only problem is we don’t know who was shooting the approach for the CRJ. It probably was the Captain ...
During a trip, the crew swaps Pilot Flying & Pilot Monitoring roles. So, 50-50 either way.
Everyone seems to be swallowing the NYT's premise that Trump "blamed diversity ... for the crash." I'd like to see the exact quote where he did that. I watched the video of the press conference and didn't hear that. He raised the topic, but that's not the same as specifically assigning blame. It's more like pointing out a potential contributing factor, which is very different.
The NYT could have said "without citing evidence" and been accurate, but as written they are doing exactly what they accuse Trump of doing.
"Ann’s soliloquy"
I would have gone with "Althouse's disquisition," if that was the tone I was after, but that's just me.
To try and blame DEI for this horrific crash is disgraceful and then the insanity of signing an executive order to try and blame DEI is incomprehensible.
"its lights are not moving relative to city lights"
From what I could tell, the aircraft was directly down river of the helo, so there shouldn't have been much light behind it, just the Wilson Bridge a couple of miles south.
When I was in USAF pilot training, it was shortly after the first women were allowed in. A female student pilot had difficulties with nose-low unusual attitude recoveries that would have washed out a male student. While on a solo sortie, she turned a barrel roll into a barrel dive, failed to recover and died.
In the late 90's I was the second in command of a pilot training squadron — this was a year or so after women were first allowed fly combat aircraft. After the initial influx of women into fighters, the flow turned into a trickle. The Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS) showed up to investigate us to find out how we were discriminating against the female students. [Because reasons] while female students had about the same washout rate as the males, the females were significantly over-represented in the bottom half of the class. As follow on assignments were chosen in performance ranked order, it was fairly rare for any female student to be in a position to choose a fighter, and those that were almost always went to heavies. Fortunately, we survived the investigation, but there was significant pressure that should *never* have existed in the first place.
During the same tour, I was deposed regarding the elimination from training of a black male student who went to the Pentagon's office of whatever the hell DIE was called at the time. Fortunately, our documentation and practices were on the money, so we were OK. But there was even more pressure than should ever have existed in the second place.
Shortly before I was hired at FedEx, an MD-11 was destroyed at Memphis, flown by a female pilot whose conduct and performance would have long since seen the firing of a male pilot.
In 2019, Atlas Air Flight 3591 crashed east of Houston Intercontinental. The First Officer was a diversity hire.
I could go on, but this is already easily long enough.
I just watched the video, Lucille. He didn't blame DEI. Usual distortion to libel Trump.
Do they actually plan to bury pilot in an unmarked grave to keep her identity secret?
The policy is that the helicopters fly along the east bank of the Potomac at 200 ft, This keeps them well under the flight path of incoming passenger flights. Of course, having helicopters completely absent would be ideal but the confluence of military bases in the area and the airport make this impossible, so the helicopters take a restricted path to let them through without interfering with the airliners. The big question under investigation is why the helicopter deviated from this route into the path of the passenger jet, not why the helicopter was flying at all.
DIE is, by definition, anti-meritocratic. In some areas, that may not matter, but it sure has heck matters in aviation. Whether it played specific roll in this mishap ... staffing, for instance, it has played a roll in others.
There is no disputing this — the President is right.
@SeanDuffy (Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy)
"NEW: With the support of @POTUS and in consultation with the @SecDef, effective today, the @FAANews will restrict helicopter traffic around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport airport.
Today’s decision will immediately help secure the airspace near Reagan Airport, ensuring the safety of airplane and helicopter traffic. This is part of the @USDOT's ongoing commitment to safeguarding our nation’s skies and upholding the highest standards of air travel safety. We will continue to support @POTUS' directive to achieve uncompromised aviation safety. The American people deserve full confidence in our aviation system and today’s action is a significant step towards restoring that trust.
The restricted area includes:
- Memorial Bridge to South Capitol Street Bridge, excluding the Tidal Basin
- Haines Point to Wilson Bridge
- Over the top of DCA"
For an airport with the traffic of DCA, the normal staffing would have been two working ground traffic, and one each working departures and arrivals.
It's a very convenient airport, but as anybody who has ever worked in software knows, security and convenience are always at odds with each other.
Many here are quite knowledgeable about the issues involved. I have no special knowledge. Here is my takeaway: It does seem that the helicopter was flying too high, that the ATC instructions to the helicopter were not sufficiently clear and that the controller was doing a task that is ideally performed by two controllers. Is my understanding correct?........Is DEI part of the equation? Was the tower undermanned because they were struggling to find enough DEI hires? Was the female pilot a DEI hire and in any way responsible for the wrong elevation? Can these questions be asked and answered in a fair, responsible way?
Mike (MJB Wolf), I normally agree with you, but I think you're missing the point here. If one asserts blame AND knows the evidence (as it's likely that Trump does), one should cite that evidence at the time the assertion is made. If there are good reasons for not citing the evidence immediately, one can easily qualify the assertion by adding phrases like, "and I believe the accumulating evidence I've been advised will soon confirm this."
No one is blaming "diversity". They are blaming Diversity (e.g. racism, sexism, etc) and DEI (i.e. institutional, systemic Diversity), specifically selecting for Diversity in lieu of merit.
There are obviously situations where the differences between men and women will matter but I don't see that flying a helicopter would be one of those areas. What particular set of skills would a man have and a woman not have that should make flying a helicopter a uniquely male endeavor.
I read an article that there were 14 US Army helicopter accidents in 2024 that caused 11 fatalities. It didn't include the gender of the pilot in each crash but presumably mostly men. Instead it talked about training issues.
I may be remembering things incorrectly, but if the helicopter pilot was a woman it is giving me flashbacks to the Navy after the Tailhook scandal. If I remember correctly, they were in a rush to get some female carrier pilots out there and the first heavily-touted candidate managed to get herself killed because she was either not ready or not capable. I hope the young lady in the Blackhawk wasn't rushed into something that she was not ready for.
The top three management positions in LA Fire Dept were held by lesbians. Over twenty five percent of their fire engines were down for maintenance at the time of the fires. No MSM journalist or public official has tried to connect the dots, but just on the face of it there seems to be a connection. There seems to be a conscious effort not to do so, and so it goes here.
Critical Diversity Theory (CDT) advises that Diversity can be inferred, and under DEI it is an explicit, unapologetic practice. That said, the determination of race or sex of the individuals involved does not reflect on race or sex as a bloc witness. People who think it does need to lose their religion, their progressive ideology, discard their liberal license, abort their politically congruent constructs. #HateLovesAbortion
DEI is simply anti-merit.
The left will hide behind "You're all racists and misogynists!"
In order for the left to score points- they must lie and twist actual quotes. See the drinking bleach lie, the good people lie... the covid origins lie... the ivermectin lie... and on and on... the backbone of the left = lies.
I thought that the people in DC would have a vested interest in the safety of their flights, but apparently that is not so. The VIP's want to use helicopters for commuting and to have flights from their home town landing in a convenient location. This accident might have as much to do with VIP pull as DEI push.
Bingo. The DEI crap and affirmative action hot garbage creates the opposite of the intention. Women and minorities are suddenly looked upon as lesser, inside the DEI construct.
The best way to combat = make sure our education system is top notch. Something the left and their teacher's union abhor.
Also, be suspicious when they assert something factual on the basis of "we're told" but they omit who it was that allegedly told them.
“If you want to hold Trump to a high standard of evidence, you must yourself follow a high standard.”
Thank you.
"I don't see that flying a helicopter would be one of those areas."
Why is there a separate division for women in chess? Why is it that women "grandmasters" are not required to meet the same level of achievement as men? There has been one woman who has been competitive in the "open" division in which the men compete.
I agree with you Ann. I was disappointed when Trump blamed DEI on the accident when it fist happened. Politicizing tragedy should never happen. It is often the gun control zealots that do it. I hate they are keeping the pilots name secret. It will only fuel controversy when it should not. I served in the air force. Women can pilot as well as men. Women can not serve as infantry grunts as well as men though. I hate to say it though if the pilot was a black female lesbian many will think DEI hire. That person could be the best pilot in the world but also could be DEI.
There are certainly problems in staffing ATC positions, with policy directives that excluded white men from filling these positions no matter how experienced or capable. (Now changed by President Trump.) From looking at the flight path it appears the helicopter pilot deviated from it's required route so suddenly that even the most attentive ATC would've had very little time to issue warnings to the plane or for the plane to take evasive action. Sure, the video shows the helicopter apparently flying right at the plane for quite a while, but I think the distance and angle the video was taken don't reveal the whole story.
Planetgeo. 7:12 nails the core issue. Even without the effects of insane DEI policies, the airspace used for landings and takeoffs at DCA is no place for helicopters to be flying, especially on training flights, and ESPECIALLY on busy windy nights. (I know it was windy because I landed at DCA 30 minutes before the crash. I now wonder if the helo pilot wanted some additional altitude because of downdrafts.) These types of helo flights are just asking for trouble.
You know. It could be a trans-she. Meaning she was born a he and became a she. I’m just speculating that the pentagon still using the approved pronouns as defined in their latest manuals. Trump hasn’t been around long enough to change those. Maybe. I don’t know.
Everyone will try and cover up if the fault, or part of the fault, lies with their group. Also, military aircraft do not have “black boxes.”
It wouldn't have been her fault if she was promoted beyond her capability.
I don't think that is entirely true. I would agree that fault lies with the people in charge of evaluation but if you are an individual who is employed in a skilled or professional role, part of your personal responsibility to be aware of your own skill level and how it compares to the task at hand. If a surgeon gets assigned to a surgery that he or she isn't qualified to perform, the surgeon should be aware if he or she is up to the task and that surgeon fails in their own personal duty if he or she fails to properly self-evaluate. A pilot is absolutely a skilled position that puts people's lives at risk. Pilots have a duty to be aware of their skill level and capability.
Merit gets muddy because of political baggage, but the concept derives from ancient (heartless) functionalism, survival, and natural selection.
With engineering it's obvious who has merit. Give a bunch of prospective students a fixed amount of wooden sticks, glue, and string. Ask them to build a bridge capable of holding 10 pounds across a span of 3 feet. The students who make a functional bridge can move on to real projects. Those who cannot require additional training or should pick another career.
Similarly, put a bunch of people on an island with no food. Put a cache of food 1 mile away on a second island. Those who can swim (strong) or make a boat (smart) will live, while those who cannot will starve and die. Polynesia is populated by the offspring of successful sailors only -- and those with very efficient metabolisms (i.e., chubby). The forgotten failures and skinny people were eaten by fish.
The work-around to personal limits (the lack of merit) has always been family and tribes -- find a niche for everyone and take care of the weak. Plus, the male/female division of labor has meant that the most effective women were those who best prepared their children to survive in the future.
This all got twisted into DEI and wishful-thinking: they want to force failures to be successful, be they uncompetitive persons and ineffective tribes. But also consider the other extreme of eugenics.
I read somewhere that they do this training in these conditions because they may have to evacuate the President or other top officials in an emergency scenario that will be just like this, windy, dark, busy.
Biden was collecting “firsts” the way some people collect first edition Pokémon.
Good point. Hell hath no fury like like a VIP scorned. In my experience, women and certain minorities (and that fuckin' John Kerry) are the most readily and grievously offended.
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