Paging Left Seater to the white courtesy phone…

[HighPlainsGrifter]

Stick to the subject

I should clarify. The "subject" is ALWAYS and ONLY, Donald Trump Did a Thing and the Thing is Bad. Because He Did It. Trump Does All the Bad Things.

see also: Diego's entire discography

[Truman]

You have a source?

My source is not having my head shoved up my ass

Your head is already up your ass. What's your point, Loser?

[The Seer]

C'mon Donald, this is not the time to rail against the previous regimes.

I too initially agreed his political screed was cringeworthy. However, as facts roll in, maybe there is a THERE THERE.

Staffing Was ‘Not Normal’ at Reagan Airport Tower, According to F.A.A. Report

The report, reviewed by The New York Times, said that one controller was communicating with both helicopters and planes. Those jobs are typically assigned to two people, not one.

Staffing at the air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan National Airport was “not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic,” according to an internal preliminary Federal Aviation Administration safety report about the collision that was reviewed by The New York Times.

The controller who was handling helicopters in the airport’s vicinity Wednesday night was also instructing planes that were landing and departing from its runways.

Those jobs typically are assigned to two controllers, rather than one. This increases the workload for the air traffic controller and can complicate the job. One reason is that the controllers can use different radio frequencies to communicate with pilots flying planes and pilots flying helicopters. While the controller is communicating with pilots of the helicopter and the jet, the two sets of pilots may not be able to hear each other.

Like most of the country’s air traffic control facilities, the tower at Reagan airport has been understaffed for years. The tower there was nearly a third below targeted staff levels, with 19 fully certified controllers as of September 2023, according to the most recent Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan, an annual report to Congress that contains target and actual staffing levels. The targets set by the F.A.A. and the controllers’ union call for 30.

The shortage — caused by years of employee turnover and tight budgets, among other factors — has forced many controllers to work up to six days a week and 10 hours a day.

The F.A.A. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

https://archive.is/99L4k

[Diego in Seattle]

C'mon Donald, this is not the time to rail against the previous regimes.

I too initially agreed his political screed was cringeworthy. However, as facts roll in, maybe there is a THERE THERE.

Staffing Was ‘Not Normal’ at Reagan Airport Tower, According to F.A.A. Report

The report, reviewed by The New York Times, said that one controller was communicating with both helicopters and planes. Those jobs are typically assigned to two people, not one.

Staffing at the air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan National Airport was “not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic,” according to an internal preliminary Federal Aviation Administration safety report about the collision that was reviewed by The New York Times.

The controller who was handling helicopters in the airport’s vicinity Wednesday night was also instructing planes that were landing and departing from its runways.

Those jobs typically are assigned to two controllers, rather than one. This increases the workload for the air traffic controller and can complicate the job. One reason is that the controllers can use different radio frequencies to communicate with pilots flying planes and pilots flying helicopters. While the controller is communicating with pilots of the helicopter and the jet, the two sets of pilots may not be able to hear each other.

Like most of the country’s air traffic control facilities, the tower at Reagan airport has been understaffed for years. The tower there was nearly a third below targeted staff levels, with 19 fully certified controllers as of September 2023, according to the most recent Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan, an annual report to Congress that contains target and actual staffing levels. The targets set by the F.A.A. and the controllers’ union call for 30.

The shortage — caused by years of employee turnover and tight budgets, among other factors — has forced many controllers to work up to six days a week and 10 hours a day.

The F.A.A. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

https://archive.is/99L4k

Welp, those federal employee buyouts ought to help with staffing.

[HighPlainsGrifter]

Wednesday in MAGA governance

January 20: FAA director fired
January 21: Air Traffic Controller hiring frozen
January 22: Aviation Safety Advisory Committee disbanded
January 28: Buyout/retirement demand sent to existing employees
January 29: First American mid-air collision in 16 years

Making America Great Again!

Found it. I knew Screwy was not capable of writing a take of his own. Plagiarist piece of shit should be the president of Harvard.

[Softball Bat]

lol


oops...

[Diego in Seattle]

Wednesday in MAGA governance

January 20: FAA director fired
January 21: Air Traffic Controller hiring frozen
January 22: Aviation Safety Advisory Committee disbanded
January 28: Buyout/retirement demand sent to existing employees
January 29: First American mid-air collision in 16 years

Making America Great Again!

Found it. I knew Screwy was not capable of writing a take of his own. Plagiarist piece of shit should be the president of Harvard.

And your point is?

Why can't you ever address the matter at hand instead of avoiding it?

[Softball Bat]

Can it be shown that any of the first four on the list had something to do with #5 on the list?

[Innocent Bystander]

Mikey really likes the reading comprehension smack. Like, a lot. He's been tossing it around like he got a Groupon.

Another staggeringly substantial retort. RACK you. You guys are on a roll. Please keep it up.

It's all they've got.

From the river to the sea,
Palestine shall be free.

[Innocent Bystander]

You have a source?

My source is not having my head shoved up my ass

I hadn't heard the press conference. It's disappointing both Trump and Vance would go there.

[Biggie]

Looked intentional to me. What info do we have on the Blackhawk pilot and occupants?

[Mikey]

Looked intentional to me. What info do we have on the Blackhawk pilot and occupants?

Probably illegal immigrants. Or a DEI hire. Or woke commie liberal Democrats.

[Diego in Seattle]

C'mon Donald, this is not the time to rail against the previous regimes.

I shut it down when he started that shit. Unbelievable.

However, there is apparently a class action lawsuit by over 1000 ATC applicants regarding DEI bullshit keeping them from being hired. You would think even the idiots promoting DEI would recognize that in areas of public safety, only the best should be employed. Damn race, religion, etc. Merit should be the ONLY consideration.

https://x.com/Ronxyz00/status/1885178540607373379?s=19

With ATC's being 70% white and 75% male what are the chances that DEI had anything to do with this disaster?

HPG should be along any second now to tell us that it wasn't wrong for President Felon to assign blame to DEI policies...

[The Seer]

Can it be shown that any of the first four on the list had something to do with #5 on the list?

Obviously in 10 days Trump decimated all the talent and depth of ATC's.

[Screw_Michigan]

Mikey really likes the reading comprehension smack. Like, a lot. He's been tossing it around like he got a Groupon.

Wow, I haven't heard of a Groupon in 15 years. Did they finally make it up to the end of the earth, aka Wyoming?

[Screw_Michigan]

Your head is already up your ass. What's your point, Loser?

Truman's back with his tried and true IKYABWAIs. Eat shit.

[Screw_Michigan]

Good god. You couldn’t post anything more stupid. But we know you’ll give it your best shot.


IB, it doesn’t matter at all what color, sex, religion, etc ATCs are. They should be hired with only ONE consideration: ability.

Yeah, and Dump failed, you fucking idiot.

[smackaholic]

Looked intentional to me. What info do we have on the Blackhawk pilot and occupants?

this^^^^.

There is really just one explanation for this sort of mid-air collision and that would be low visibility along with a fukk up by controllers/pilots.

But visibility was unlimited, and the aircraft were on close to a head on course. Assuming no one had their Klingon cloaking devices enabled, how does this happen? We have video showing that the jet had his high beams on.

This was either a monumental level of incompetence or an intentional act.

When these are the two options, I have to go with deliberate act.

[smackaholic]

Good god. You couldn’t post anything more stupid. But we know you’ll give it your best shot.


IB, it doesn’t matter at all what color, sex, religion, etc ATCs are. They should be hired with only ONE consideration: ability.

Yeah, and Dump failed, you fucking idiot.

Failed at what, exactly?

[Sudden Sam]

Good god. You couldn’t post anything more stupid. But we know you’ll give it your best shot.


IB, it doesn’t matter at all what color, sex, religion, etc ATCs are. They should be hired with only ONE consideration: ability.

Yeah, and Dump failed, you fucking idiot.

Congrats. I was wrong. You topped your previous stupid post.

Credit where credit is due.

[The Seer]

From the river to the sea,
Palestine shall be free.

Agreed. Threads have titles and topics for a reason.

[HighHard1]

From the river to the sea,
Palestine shall be free.

Looks like it's going to be free of Palestinians pretty quick.

[Left Seater]

I saw a question about TCAS so wanted to clear up a few things around that.

TCAS is a collision avoidance system installed on all commercial planes operating in the US and some private planes. Many military aircraft do not have TCAS installed. Futhter TCAS is designed to auto shut off when airlplanes are within 1000 feet AGL (within 1000 of the ground). This is to reduce the noise for pilots on the critical phases of landing and takeoff. At larger airports TCAS would constantly be going nuts. TCAS works by communicating directly with another aircraft equiped with TCAS and will have one aircraft climb and the other descend, another reason you don't want this to work under 1000 AGL.


There have been multiple commercial flights landing at Reagan in the last month that have broken off their approach and executed a go-around due to helicopter traffic.

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/loca ... n/3831870/

In this case the TCAS was still active given the altitude.


Here is one of the best visuals of the aircraft paths that I have seen:



This shows the close to right angle of the flight paths. The helicopter was advised to pass behind the AA jet. At the same time, the helicopter should not have been above 200 feet. There are a number of reports saying the helicopter was closer to 450 ft. The NTSB will let us know just where the helicopter was in their reports.

I have also seen comments along the lines of the the helicopter pilots should have seen the lights of the AA jet. To that I say maybe. The bright landing lights of the AA jet are really only visible when looking directly head on or within about 30 degrees of head on. The AA jet would have also had their exterior lights on, but those would probably fade into the background of the city behind the AA jet. This also shows how only the AA co pilot would have had a shot at seeing the helicopter. The Left Seat would have had to look thru the cockpit and out the right side windows. Not something that is done often. Further, the AA jet was finishing their left hand turn or had just finished the turn. That means the visibility out the right hand window would be above the horizon and therefore over the path of the helicopter.

Still way to early to know all of the things in the perfect storm, but I did want to answer and share some of these things.

[Sudden Sam]

Some interesting points here. Seems to jibe with LS’s points:

https://x.com/kristina_wong/status/1885 ... 05367?s=46

[mvscal]

C'mon Donald, this is not the time to rail against the previous regimes.

I too initially agreed his political screed was cringeworthy. However, as facts roll in, maybe there is a THERE THERE.

I would say that he has access to more detailed information than the shit flinging fucktards on this thread. They know who they are.

From first impression, it appears that the only people who were doing what they were supposed to do where they were supposed to be doing it was the AA flight. There was some kind of gaggle fuck between ATC and the helicopter. The helicopter had three people on board, so the idea that it was some sort of kamikaze suicide mission is idiotic.

[mvscal]

You have a source?

My source is not having my head shoved up my ass

Your head is already up your ass. What's your point, Loser?

In fairness, there might be too many cocks up his ass to fit his head. Maybe. I don't know. That would have to be a lot of cocks.

[Innocent Bystander]

The helicopter had three people on board, so the idea that it was some sort of kamikaze suicide mission is idiotic.

Why did the New Years Day domestic terrorist attacks happen this month?

[Sven Golly]

Speaking of Reagan, wasn't it he that fired thousands of air traffic controllers in the early 80's with no incidents occurring thereafter?

So to say Trump's policies having an impact on this is a bit of a stretch, no?

[HighPlainsGrifter]

Speaking of Reagan, wasn't it he that fired thousands of air traffic controllers in the early 80's with no incidents occurring thereafter?

So to say Trump's policies having an impact on this is a bit of a stretch, no?

Think about it this way. Six days ago Trump invited federal employees to show up to work or take a sweet severance package to fuck all the way off. Obviously that means the price of eggs went up which in turn made it impossible for trans people to get surgery and retroactively Mayor Pete, whom knows zero things about national transportation, had to stay home with his boyfriend and surrogate baby for 4 years. Sadly, a few more celebrity fundraisers and another well-funded foreign war would have prevented Trump's election altogether and we wouldn't be in this mess.

[Sven Golly]

Speaking of Reagan, wasn't it he that fired thousands of air traffic controllers in the early 80's with no incidents occurring thereafter?

So to say Trump's policies having an impact on this is a bit of a stretch, no?

Think about it this way. Six days ago Trump invited federal employees to show up to work or take a sweet severance package to fuck all the way off. Obviously that means the price of eggs went up which in turn made it impossible for trans people to get surgery and retroactively Mayor Pete, whom knows zero things about national transportation, had to stay home with his boyfriend and surrogate baby for 4 years. Sadly, a few more celebrity fundraisers and another well-funded foreign war would have prevented Trump's election altogether and we wouldn't be in this mess.

Good point

The libs on this board can rest easy - all of Trump's doings are merely performative - Joy Reid said so.

[mvscal]

Speaking of Reagan, wasn't it he that fired thousands of air traffic controllers in the early 80's with no incidents occurring thereafter?

So to say Trump's policies having an impact on this is a bit of a stretch, no?

Think about it this way. Six days ago Trump invited federal employees to show up to work or take a sweet severance package to fuck all the way off. Obviously that means the price of eggs went up which in turn made it impossible for trans people to get surgery and retroactively Mayor Pete, whom knows zero things about national transportation, had to stay home with his boyfriend and surrogate baby for 4 years. Sadly, a few more celebrity fundraisers and another well-funded foreign war would have prevented Trump's election altogether and we wouldn't be in this mess.

Kinda tough to do air traffic controlling remote, so not really applicable to them. A simple fact that appears to have been lost in the Muuuh Trump shuffle.

[mvscal]

Another staggeringly substantial retort. RACK you. You guys are on a roll. Please keep it up.

It's all they've got.

From the river to the sea,
Palestine shall be free.

Non sequitur much? Move this Pallywood production to the things which don't warrant their own thread thread.

[Left Seater]

Kinda tough to do air traffic controlling remote, so not really applicable to them. A simple fact that appears to have been lost in the Muuuh Trump shuffle.

When you say remote I am guessing you mean not at home. There are plenty of remote towers and TRACON and ARTCC are always remote, ie they are not looking out windows at the planes they are moving.

[mvscal]

Kinda tough to do air traffic controlling remote, so not really applicable to them. A simple fact that appears to have been lost in the Muuuh Trump shuffle.

When you say remote I am guessing you mean not at home. There are plenty of remote towers and TRACON and ARTCC are always remote, ie they are not looking out windows at the planes they are moving.

Yes, I mean in your jammies in the basement.

[HighPlainsGrifter]

Footy pajamas with an animal hood if your name is Screwy.

[mvscal]

Footy pajamas with an animal hood if your name is Screwy.

With a coloring book close by in case the Bad Orange Man grabs him by his pussy again.

[mvscal]

C'mon Donald, this is not the time to rail against the previous regimes.

I shut it down when he started that shit. Unbelievable.

However, there is apparently a class action lawsuit by over 1000 ATC applicants regarding DEI bullshit keeping them from being hired. You would think even the idiots promoting DEI would recognize that in areas of public safety, only the best should be employed. Damn race, religion, etc. Merit should be the ONLY consideration.

https://x.com/EndWokeness/status/186049 ... n-n4936551

Here is one of Pedo Joe's picks to run the FAA. Clearly, Joetato was focused like a laser on aviation safety...oh, wait. He wanted a negro and didn't give a fuck if he knew anything at all about aviation. The confirmation hearing didn't go well to say the least. Pedo Joe went full retard with this fucking clown.

[Sudden Sam]

Here is one of Pedo Joe's picks to run the FAA. Clearly, Joetato was focused like a laser on aviation safety...oh, wait. He wanted a negro and didn't give a fuck if he knew anything at all about aviation. The confirmation hearing didn't go well to say the least. Pedo Joe went full retard with this fucking clown.

Unreal.

Why would anyone subject themself to such public humiliation? Knowing I would be grilled, I would either study like a mofo and be prepared or I would decline the nomination.

[smackaholic]

Besides being balck, did that dude have ANY qualifications that might have made him suitable for the job at FAA?

[HighPlainsGrifter]

Besides being balck, did that dude have ANY qualifications that might have made him suitable for the job at FAA?

He is the CEO of Denver International Airport. How did he get that job?