Accident investigator refuses to take the bait as Sean Hannity pesters him to connect DC plane crash to DEI
Published
Accident investigator refuses to take the bait as Sean Hannity pesters him to connect Washington, DC, plane crash to DEI
Citation
From the January 31, 2025, edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Sean Hannity Show
SEAN HANNITY (HOST): I mean, just look at all of the near misses that we had. You would think that that's the canary in the coal mine. And this FAA report warning very, very specifically that they were turning away qualified people in the name of DEI, but more importantly, warning about, the lack of safety and training and the shortage of people, how much of a challenge, you know, why is all of this happening. It really does raise a lot of red flags, Captain Bob Young.
CAPT. BOB YOUNG (GUEST): Well, sir, thank you, sir. I'd like to, just speak a little bit about what the American crew might have experienced. Probably they had a runway change, very shortly before they arrived in the airport area. They originally probably would've expected Runway 1 and they were given, Runway 33 which causes them to go out over the Potomac quite a bit further and lower.
They were probably notified about the helicopter. I'm not sure about that, but I expect they were. However, their feeling, I'm sure, was that they were on IFR clearance instrument flight rules, and they expected the ATC, the air traffic control folks, to provide them separation from the helicopter.
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HANNITY: What is your reaction to all of the other information that I brought up here, about all the deficiencies that everybody was warned about, all the near misses that everybody was warned about, all the staffing shortages on top of all of the DEI applications that have been put in place for many years now?
YOUNG: Well, as I say, it's unfortunate that the airplane was rerouted to Runway 33 because if he'd been able to land a Runway 1, which is the primary runway coming from the south, if he'd been able to land on that, he would have stayed very close to the Virginia shore of the Potomac and would have stayed away from the helicopter corridor.
Again, the landing on Runway 33 at night is very challenging for a jet airplane and I'm sure both these pilots were concentrating on that, because they expected air traffic control was going to keep them separated from the helicopter.