The investigation is early, and there is much to be revealed. But the overwhelming focus of diversity, equity and inclusion from the previous four years of Joe Biden’s administration makes DEI a relevant question, one on the minds of many as authorities began the search for answers to why a military helicopter and a commercial flight collided minutes away from the nation’s capital Wednesday night.
The two aircraft plunged into shallow waters of the Potomac River killing almost 70, the combined total of both.
As conservatives celebrate Donald Trump’s remake of the federal government, his run for a second presidential term was nearly cut short last summer when a young would-be assassin missed from a nearby roofline at an outdoor speaking event in rural Pennsylvania.
Since that time, DEI hiring practices have come under fire with the Secret Service, which has been roundly criticized for its performance that day, so much so that Director Kimberly Cheatle was forced to resign weeks afterward.
Did DEI play a role in Thursday’s horrific crash?
Retired Air Force general John Teichert said on Washington Watch Thursday that he expects the investigations – one by the National Transportation Safety Board and one by the Army – to reveal confusion or lack of communication as the primary cause of the crash.
The effects of DEI in military training are real and regrettable, Teichert stated.
“They’re going to be gathering the information. Part of that will be gathering the full tapes of the air traffic control missions over the course of that flight, and then those black boxes, the data recorders, will have information about what was being discussed in both of those cockpits,” Teichert told show host Tony Perkins. (Editor's note: Investigators have since recovered the recorders from the commercial aircraft.)
Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas), who serves on a House subcommittee for aviation, said he expects a preliminary report from the NTSB within 30 days.
Nehls told Perkins he knows the NTSB has received a “full package” from air traffic control “so all the communications prior to the crash and the moments after the crash are in the hands of the NTSB.”
‘Deconfliction’ will be analyzed
Teichert says a breakdown in deconfliction – the process led by air traffic control of avoiding interference or hazards among aircraft – was clear.
“Clearly the helicopter, for whatever reason, did not see the aircraft and was not provided deconfliction help from air traffic control. You see a very fast vector from the left to the right that slams the helicopter into the aircraft that initiated this tragedy. That aircraft was on a very predictable slow and vulnerable part of its approach from the south to the north at DCA [Reagan National Airport],” he described.
The Army’s Blackhawk helicopter was in the air for only one of three possible training exercises: distinguished visitor transport, protection of Washington, DC, or national emergency response.
“In order to train you need to fly in the air space in a realistic way, and that’s what they were doing [that] night,” Teichert said.
Whether DEI was an element of this tragedy remains to be seen – bit it certainly has a place in the discussion, according to the general.
“I have seen some of that distraction in the DOD in the last four years. We see now a president and defense secretary who are insisting that we get back to a constitutionally grounded, mission-focused, merit-based system within the national security sphere,” Teichert said.
Trump has mentioned DEI concerns among air traffic controllers as well.
The FAA offered a broad response, telling Fox News it seeks employees “from as many sources as possible” for a wide range of positions. Teichert himself, however, has seen the impact of DEI practices.
“We think about how diversity has been elevated during the last four years to the sacrifice of unity and shared purpose. I have seen many in the military who have lamented the fact that we have drifted away from the focus that the military is there to be lethal and ready because of all these other distractive elements,” Teichert said.
Washington air space in great demand
In the quest to prevent a reoccurrence of the tragedy part of the discussion should be the volume of traffic in the skies above Washington, Teichert said.
More than 300 flights arrive daily at Reagan National, but there are two other airports serving the greater area: Dulles in northern Virginia which is 26 miles west of downtown, and BWI in Baltimore.
“We need to be careful that we’re not trading convenience and creating risks that seemingly happened [that] night,” Teichert said.
“Investigators first will preserve perishable evidence; second, they’ll figure out what happened; but most importantly they’ll get to the root cause of why it happened, so that we can update procedures, policies, techniques and airspace so that nothing like this happens again. That’s their primary charge.”
Editor's note: Teichert is founder of PLUS ministry (Prayer at Lunchtime for the United States), which encourages Christians in America to take time daily at lunch to specifically pray for their nation and elected leaders.
