Investigating a Midair Flight of a Medical Jet with the FAA: Donald Trump, the National Transportation Safety Board, and Human Performance
Donald Trump appeared to place the blame for the midair collision that killed 67 people on the previous administration, in an interview on Thursday. The next few weeks will see investigators look at every element of the crash and the moments leading up to it to try and figure out what caused it.
The FAA said the National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation. The air crashes investigation team of the National Safety Board is gathering information about the crash.
The crash comes two days after the country’s deadliest aviation disaster in almost a quarter century. A helicopter carrying three soldiers and 60 passengers on an American Airlines jet collided in midair in Washington D.C. on Wednesday night. There were no survivors of that crash.
A program that was in the first administration of Trump aimed at expanding the talent pool for the FAA to people with disabilities was mentioned during the White House briefing. There was no proof, he admitted, that the crash was linked to the FAA’s attempts to improve diversity in its workforce. But he made the connection, he said, “because I have common sense and unfortunately some people don’t.”
In a press briefing, NTSB board member J. Todd Inman said at least seven different working groups will focus on different elements of the flights, made up of federal investigators as well as representatives from the military, aircraft manufacturers, and organizations representing aviation professionals.
An operations group will look into the history of the accident and the crew involved. A group will look at the wreck of the plane to understand what happened before the collision, including the altitude. Another will zoom in on the engines involved. Others will take a look at onboard pneumatic and electrical systems. The group will analyze recordings and sensor data to find out how the professionals at National Airport reacted to the incident. Another will examine the reactions of first responders, and another will examine the helicopter in particular. A human performance group is going to be embedded in several organizations to look into what role crew fatigue, workload, medication, equipment, and training may have played in the collision.
PHILADELPHIA — A medical transport jet crashed in Philadelphia on Friday about 30 seconds after taking off, setting homes ablaze and unleashing a fireball into the night sky. Two people were on board, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The plane in Philadelphia appeared to be a Learjet 55 that quickly disappeared from radar after takeoff. It was en route to Springfield, Missouri, and registered to a company operating as Med Jets, according to the flight tracking website Flight Aware.
The crash site of a jet in the Rhawnhurst neighborhood of Mayfair, South Carolina, reported by Michael Schiavone
A loud bang and house shake was heard when Michael Schiavone was sitting at his home in Mayfair. He said it felt like a mini earthquake, and when he checked his home security camera footage, he said, it looked like a missile was coming down. “There was a large explosion, so I thought we were under attack for a second,” he said.
Flight data showed a small jet taking off from the airport at 6:06 p.m. and disappearing from radar about 30 seconds later after climbing to an altitude of 1,600 feet.
The plane crash happened in a crowded intersection near an outdoor shopping center where first responders were blocking traffic and onlookers crowded onto the street corner in the Rhawnhurst neighborhood. There are roads closed in the area according to the emergency management office.
Jim Quinn, 56, lives about a half-mile from the crash site. He heard the crash when he was leaving his home. “All we heard was a loud roar and didn’t know where it was coming from. We just turned around and saw the big plume.”
The plane’s owner, Jet Rescue, provides global air ambulance services. The company, based in Mexico, flew baseball hall of famer David Ortiz to Boston after he was shot in the Dominican Republic in 2019 and was involved in transporting patients critically ill with COVID-19.