As a retired ATC, every time an aircraft accident occurred, I used to tell doubting friends that YES, flying is still safe. NOW, however, I cannot. This administration is chipping away at the very core of the ATC mission by cutting funds to maintenance, weather reporting and staffing, all CRUCIAL!
Why still can't I get anyone to believe it after 10+ years of telling everyone in my vicinity? People are still acting like I'm overreacting and will be for the foreseeable future.
There were 11 near-miss reports at DCA over the last 10 years (2015–2025), with 5 involving commercial planes and helicopters. At least among REPORTED near-miss incidences.
The value of 2013-2021 Teslas just went up a bit. They do include radar before Elon decided the cost of sensors was more than a small number of multimillion dollar lawsuits.
Solid point! Not something I considered. Imagine being a newer Tesla owner and being asked to put down however much it would cost to update your vehicle to a 4 year old standard.
The forthcoming declaration of martial law will probably slow the incidents of air disasters at least a little, but I would not fly anywhere for anything until after the regime occupying the White House vacates.
Well. They'll attempt to kill us in every possible fashion, we all know that. Quick collision, slow death without health care, death by poverty, death via climate change weather disasters, toss us in camps . . . whatever works, works for them.
For those of us who never wanted any of this, who always vote against GOP, those of us who have engaged in social and environmental work/activism/progress all our lives, these days are excruciatingly painful, overwhelming, filled with dread. The betrayal by both citizens and gov't is staggering.
And Trump's pick for FAA chief (an airline CEO) wanted the FAA to halve the no of minimum flying hours for new pilots - the FAA told him to take a hike, so this is likely coming next when he gets the job. What could go wrong?
Blame Elon Musk. These air traffic controllers are working under the daily threat of losing their jobs to Elon musk employees. Plus they are still dealing with the trauma of the recent event that cost the loss of so many lives.
I was going to say that near misses and plane crashes occur far more frequently than most people realize (not to dismiss the problem, but to share the counter-argument), but I went to look into this incident first and see that NTSB has found over 15,000 near misses at DCA in 3 years???
If NTSB reporting can still be trusted, and I think it can because the chair was a pre-Trump appointment, holy shit...now let's make it less safe by gutting ATC. 😫
I used to fly all the time and not even give it a thought. As I got a little older, I got a little more paranoid. My last flight was 6 months ago and it ended with a safe but hard landing. I told my family that It was my last flight. I don’t believe in tempting fate.
Not getting anywhere near an airplane until this insanity is resolved. Many many Americans agree. Sorry airline industry, you're going to take a hit (no pun intended).
Apologies to TSA employees who have been fired and lives altered to ruined. Thanks to those still trying to keep us safe
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The country is being broken, none of this is accidental.
He also doesn’t grasp that understaffing an agency doesn’t mean it’s now “efficient”. It means it’s now crippled.
What “fraud” would there be at the FAA?
He wants us fearful of flying so we don’t leave the country.
He’s waiting for the violence so he can declare national emergency & shut our borders to outgoing flights.
Trapping us all here.
No one look at the fact that Elons self drive tech is fooled by fake tunnels a la Wiley E Coyote.
Definitely give this dumb ass and his minions another dimension to deal with.
https://electrek.co/2025/03/16/tesla-autopilot-drives-into-wall-camera-vs-lidar-test/
No over the air updates on this one.
Truly hilarious.
Apologies to TSA employees who have been fired and lives altered to ruined. Thanks to those still trying to keep us safe