Yeah I just didn’t think Tom was that funny. Eddie Murphy fucking killed it though. Holy shit!

That would require humility and talent. Neither of which they possess.

…The Capitalist attitude… FTFY. This isn’t an exclusively American problem.

True. It’s going to be bad. But it’s hard to pin the blame on trumpmfor the past incidents. The firings just happened

Yes. There are thousands of aviation incidents and accidents every year in the US. None of those have been scheduled carriers. General aviation, crop dustets, flight training, etc… The DC crash was notable because it’s the first fatalities due to mishap on a US SCHEDULED air carrier (called part 121 in the industry) since 2009. Emphasis on scheduled. Because of the notability Since then there has been increased scrutiny on aviation which is why you’ve heard about 2 of the other 3 at all. So 4 since trump took office isn’t remarkable. In fact, I’d wager there’s been a lot more.

Now does firing 100s of controllers make the ATC system more safe? No. That’s gonna be a disaster.

The Helo pilot said the words “traffic in sight…” In the world of aviation that is you saying “I am taking responsibility for traffic separation”. The controller isn’t in the cockpit, the controller has no choice but to take the pilot at their word. The pilot then followed that up with “…request visual separation.” Which is an even more assertive way of saying “I know what I’m doing, I am responsible for separation”. He said it twice. The ATC system is built on multual trust in eachother and professionalism.

The question “did the controller give clear guidance” is moot. The pilot took responsibility for traffic separation. At that point ATC is not responsible for traffic separation. If I want ATC to take responsibility for my safety I say “(Plane call sign) is looking for traffic” then ATC tells me desend, turn, speed up, slow down, etc…

As an aviator with a degree in aviation I can honestly say this. It’s a miracle it’s taken this long for something this bad to happen. No administration, from Regan onwards, has done anything about the ATC shortage (nothing effective anyway). I’m friends with controllers, I’ve been to several ATC facilities, what they do everyday is a fucking miracle. While it’s easy to point at the DC crash and the other subsequent crashes and say “see, Trump did it” the truth is far more nuanced and systemic than that. Also, in my opinion, the DC crash is 100% on the helicopter pilots.

Is what Trump doing now going to help the situation? Fuck no. We need more controllers. Better pay, better benefits, and more slots at the ATC academy.