Wednesday's deadly crash near Reagan National Airport should serve as a wake-up call about the crowded, dangerous conditions in the skies near one of the nation's busiest airports, Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., a former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot, told Newsmax.
"I think we have more questions than answers at this point," said Kiggans on "National Report," adding that she, like everyone, is waiting for answers and a thorough investigation about the collision that killed 64 people aboard an American Airlines jet and the three crew members on a U.S. Army Black Hawk.
Still, there is much being reported about altitude discrepancies and the busy status of the airport at the time of the crash.
"There are a lot of questions about the air traffic controller and if there was a manning issue," Kiggans said. "We've heard about the manning issues before from the ATC side. That's something that needs to be looked at, but also military training."
Kiggans said she has worked flying helicopters in a busy region in Hampton Roads, Virginia, and noted that she and other military fliers never used the civilian international airport because they were worried that it was too busy.
"As a person who sees the helicopters flying in and out of Reagan on almost a daily basis, I think we need to ask some hard questions," she said.
President Donald Trump has criticized the Federal Aviation Administration for its DEI hiring practices while casting blame on the Biden administration for the crash, and Kiggans said the qualifications of both air traffic controllers working Wednesday will be investigated, as well as the pilots from both aircraft that crashed.
But she said she thinks there is a "lot of truth" to being concerned about merit-based hires.
"We need to make sure we are training adequately so that we have the best-trained pilots and controllers out there and that we are always being merit-based and always focusing on [whether] these people are ready to do that mission," Kiggans said. "Safety should be first and foremost. I think that there's a lot of room for improvement going forward."
Military and civilian aviation, though, has been historically safe, she stressed.
"We haven't had a major mishap for about 15 years," she said, referring to the deadly crash in Buffalo in 2009. "A lot of changes came out from the FAA, human factors-wise, thinking about pilots, you know, what's going on in the cockpit. Also on the technology side, you know, we have technology where both aircraft should be able to see each other and should be aware of each other."
Kiggans, as a member of the Armed Services Committee, said she wants to ensure that the military's aircraft is armed with the latest and greatest technology, so it will have what it needs to avoid collisions and prevent tragedy.
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