"What Is Going On With The FAA ATC System Here Domestically In The United States?"

This is the question Juan Browne, the highly respected aviation YouTuber, asked in the post above nine months ago. He continued,

In the last couple of days, we've had no less than three to four major incidents that, if we continue to perform at this level, will eventually lead to disaster.

He was clearly correct in his prediction. Whatever the efficient cause of Wednesday night's collision -- and based on the information that's slowly dribbling out, a politically connected DEI helicopter pilot may be partially responsible -- the formal cause seems to be the long-festering disorder within the air traffic control system, run by the FAA. If this particular glitch didn't cause a disaster, the next one would have.

Browne discusses in detail three of the incidents he refers to. The most interesting for us here took place on April 18 last year at Reagan National, where Wednesday night's collision also took place. He begins his discussion of this at 7:31. It involved two separate controllers unwittingly putting two different flights onto a collision course on the same runway. The controllers catch the conflict at the last minute and scream "STOP! STOP! STOP!" to both flights, luckily averting a collision. Browne comments at 10:39,

There was a lot of background noise on the radio frequency of the tower there. Are there distractions going on in the tower? Are these conversations that are going on in the tower during operations, are they operational conversations, or are they distractions going on in the tower during operations?

Apparently he feels that's comment enough, he's pointing out an unserious atmosphere in the tower that just contributed to a near-disaster, the sort of thing that the FAA appears to tolerate routinely. In a post at PJ Media, Matt Margolis points out,

In the wake of the deadly midair collision at Reagan National Airport, it’s important that we reassess our nation’s aviation safety standards. President Trump said on Thursday that safety standards declined under Joe Biden, and let me tell you, he is right.

To illustrate this point, let’s look at his first nominee to lead the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Phil Washington.

During his confirmation hearing, Washington faced significant scrutiny over his lack of knowledge of essential aviation regulations. Washington struggled to provide answers to a series of basic questions that one would expect from someone nominated for the position of FAA administrator. For instance, when asked about the airspace that requires an ADS-B transponder, Washington admitted, “Not sure I can answer that question right now.”

. . . Washington, acknowledging his lack of expertise, often replied, “Senator, I’m not a pilot.” This admission underscored a troubling disconnect for a nominee expected to oversee the regulatory framework governing aviation safety and operations.

Margolis went on to cite a CNN report that, if confirmed, Washington would be the first black permanent administrator of the agency. According to Just the News,

The Obama-era changes to air traffic control system hiring has come under scrutiny in the past by prospective air traffic controllers and Congress alike for prioritizing diversity over merit, which critics say could compromise safety.

One prospective Air Traffic Control Specialist sued in 2015, alleging that the Obama FAA discriminated in its admissions process for air traffic controller training by designing a questionnaire that prioritized minority candidates over others, even those who had completed the FAA’s Collegiate Training Initiative (CTI).

. . . The prospective air traffic controller who filed the lawsuit, Andrew Brigida, said the FAA’s hiring practices, the air traffic controller staffing shortages, and the air disaster that occurred on Wednesday are all interrelated.

Asked by the Telegraph in the aftermath of the crash whether the years of diversity programs would ensure that an accident was likely to happen eventually, Brigida said, “Yes, that’s kind of accurate.” Brigida added that “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.”

The UK Daily Mail has additional information,

The FAA dropped a skills-based system for hiring air traffic controllers and instead based it on a 'biographical assessment' under the Obama administration.

Brigida, who is white, alleged that he was discriminated against based purely on his race and was the reason his application was knocked back.

The Arizona state graduate was turned down for a job with the agency even though he had passed his training exam with full marks, the suit claims.

The FAA has struggled in recent years with staffing issues following pandemic-era layoffs and has yet to fully recover.

. . . Following the horrifying scenes on Wednesday night, it has since emerged that there was staffing issues inside the control tower of Ronald Reagan National Airport.

The FAA have found in their preliminary report that it was 'not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic'.

On Wednesday, an air traffic controller was left to handle both helicopter traffic and manage planes - which should have been a divided duty - according to The New York Times.

Those tasks are usually handled between two people from 10am until 9:30pm, according to the report.

Legacy media was aghast at Trump's suggestion on Thursdsy that DEI wass behind the disaster, but it's looking more and more that DEI was both the formal cause -- the FAA's inadequate supervision of the air traffic control system due to inability to staff its operations fully -- and the efficient cause -- an incompetent DEI helicopter pilot -- of the disaster.