Letter From The Editor: We Need A Better Response To Aviation Accidents
Because DEI will never be the cause of a crash.
By Bella tabak ★ February 23rd, 2025
Following the coverage of President Donald Trump’s troubling response to the most deadly aviation accident since 2001, at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, the focus on the airline industry by news organizations and the general public has drastically increased. Now, Americans are scared to fly. Google searches about the safety of the aviation industry are spiking.
The tragedy took 67 lives on the night of Jan. 29 after an American Airlines plane collided mid-air with a Black Hawk helicopter, crashing into the Potomac River. Disturbingly, these deaths are still being overshadowed by an offensive series of comments made by Trump.
Trump and his administration responded to the accident by attempting to blame diversity, equity and inclusion hiring efforts. The investigation was just beginning when these accusatory comments were insensitively made, and victims hadn’t even been identified yet.
Blame was also cast onto the Joe Biden administration’s DEI regulations and executive orders. With increasing fear of air travel I found these claims to be absurd. The Trump administration responded with what it seems to do best: spewing hateful and misinforming rhetoric obscuring what really happened.
★ It should be understood that diversity doesn’t impact safety. If Trump wants to talk about aviation safety, he should acknowledge his impacts on the industry. ★
Isabella Tatone, a Syracuse University sophomore studying journalism, flies home to Los Angeles around twice a semester. The crash made her nervous, but the new administration's response did not surprise her.
“It seemed like (Trump) was just concerned with whose fault it is,” Tatone said, upset he was not interested in reaching out to families affected by the accident. “I don’t think that is a presidential action for a tragic event in our country.”
SU students aren’t the only ones critical of the blame placed on DEI initiatives.
“I wish he would shut up half the time because I think he speaks before he thinks,” a male pilot, who voted for Trump and wishes to remain anonymous, said during one of my interviews with aviation insiders.
A female captain of a major airline, who has also asked to remain anonymous, said that deflecting blame with political rhetoric is unacceptable.
“We need to concentrate on pilot training, the experience at the oversight technology and human factors in aviation. I mean, these are the things that keep the public safe,” the captain said. When this many lives are lost, misplacing blame is beyond a disrespectful reaction from the President — especially as investigations into the true causes are underway.
Both airline employees also explained their perspectives on how current DEI efforts are functioning within the airline industry. The male pilot said he understands how these policies aim to remove discriminatory language from the workplace, but not how they’re fixing hiring inequities.
“They declare on media outlets that they are going to really reinforce hiring in the DEI curriculum. Thus far, if you take a look at the actual people that have been hired, that has not occurred yet,” the pilot said.
According to the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, a majority of all aircraft pilots are white men. When looking at commercial airline pilots, estimates show seven percent are women with only about one percent being women of color.
Even though DEI efforts haven’t vastly diversified the pool of airline pilots yet, the female captain said she understands why the idea is important. But it should be rather telling that Trump stands to blame underrepresented Americans for the crash when their presence has hardly gone up in the field.
It’s simply illogical to hold these people accountable while they’re so incredibly outnumbered, with no prospect of change in these next four years in sight.
“They exist to remove the barriers for capable individuals who have been historically overlooked, not to compromise safety. Every pilot has to meet the same rigorous standards, log the hours required and demonstrate skills that are necessary to operate the aircraft safely,” she said.
It should be understood that diversity doesn’t impact safety. If Trump wants to talk about aviation safety, he should acknowledge his own impacts on the industry. We should be highlighting his federal hiring freeze, which halts the hiring of air traffic controllers.
It’s rather ironic that Trump continues to point fingers at marginalized groups while he and his unelected confidant Elon Musk upend our aviation system while simultaneously seeming to be blind to the real situation at hand.
Despite additional plane crashes since Jan. 29, Trump’s response to these aviation disasters has not been altered. It’s apparent that no number of disasters could deter him from fostering the narrative that a diverse agenda is to blame. Instead, he uses each tragedy as all the more reason to capitalize on catastrophe and push outdated beliefs.
By scapegoating DEI practices, Trump falsely and harmfully profiled these aviation employees. His administration’s notion that our marginalized residents are the roots of our faults emboldens hate toward disempowered groups.
Jo Ellis, a transgender National Guard pilot, was falsely accused of controlling the Black Hawk helicopter that was involved in the accident. Conspiracy theories spiraled, and Ellis’ name went viral on X with more than 90,000 posts.
Ellis said that she and her family became collateral damage as a result of these false claims.
Trump needs to be held accountable for the damage he inflicts with his divisive words. Spreading false, hateful claims paints an inaccurate picture of a tragic accident. When radicals utilize this rhetoric, it becomes increasingly dangerous.
With an increase in focus on the aviation industry from the media and the public, this administration should be held accountable for any damage they may have caused. In the face of tragedy, we should not demonize fellow Americans. Sexuality, gender, or skin color did not, and will never, cause a crash.