Illinois Democrat Sen. Tammy Duckworth, herself a decorated former Black Hawk pilot, told NPR she understood why the family declined to make their loved-one's name public.
" We should be respecting the family's wishes at a time when they have suffered an unbelievable loss," Duckworth said. "I think it is a perfectly legitimate request the family would make. And I'm glad that the Army is honoring that request."
Duckworth condemned the online speculation about the third member of the crew and especially President Trump's musings that the Army crew was to blame or was affected by DEI hiring.
"Every one of those troops that was in that aircraft earned their place there, and they are the most highly trained military aviators in the world," Duckworth said. "And I am just sick to my stomach that we would have a president who would say such things about the heroic men and women who serve every single day."
Despite President Trump saying the pilots of the Army helicopter bore responsibility for the crash, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the crew was "fairly experienced" and carrying out a "required annual night evaluation, they did have night vision goggles."
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:They were turned away because of the color of their skin,” Vice President JD Vance said of air traffic controllers. “That policy ends under Donald Trump’s leadership.”
We do not know what led to this crash, but we have some very strong opinions and ideas,” he said. “And I think we'll probably state those opinions now, because over the years I've watched as things like this happen and they say, ‘Well, we're always investigating.’”
How long do we have to listen to this garbage? Now this tragedy will turn into a race issue and the country won’t be able to get together and grieve for these people.
Actually I think he said we should hire the best and the brightest air traffic controllers and not base hiring on race, sex, orientation, etc. It’s called a meritocracy.
Anonymous wrote:Both sides in this debate are engaging in political attacks instead of admitting and focussing on the true cause of the crash- a tragic accident that, was obscenely preventable, had Air Traffic controllers who have been turning whistleblower for YEARS about under staffing had been listened to.
This Front Page NYT article bringing Air Traffic Controller's concerns to front page for all Americans to READ was published about a YEAR before the accident: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/02/business/air-traffic-controllers-safety.html
DEI preferences is not the reason that the USA is short about 50,000 trained pilots as well as tens of thousands of Air Traffic controllers- we simply do not train , recruit and retain enough to meet demand.
Corporate GREED in the Airline industry is another factor: pay your pilots well and you retain the best and then the best train the new hires.
America has allowed itself, courtesy of our corrupt Congress, to short shift every aspect of our bridges, ports, and air traffic all the while caving to corporate demands. Just look at the disaster at Bowing- because they sidelined their Engineers.
Fix that and stop Bickering with each other
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:How would you even prove this? Like if the pilot was Hispanic or gay or female, would he see proof that he was right??
They turned down over a 1,000 white men.
*who are qualified
This is false. Total lie! FAA wants qualified people regardless of race!
Then they should have hired them, regardless of race.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:How would you even prove this? Like if the pilot was Hispanic or gay or female, would he see proof that he was right??
They turned down over a 1,000 white men.
THEY WERE NOT QUALIFIED.
There are hundreds of seats that need to be filled, but you cannot fill an ATC seat with someone who isn't qualified without causing harm to the air traffic system and safety in our country.
Anonymous wrote:There is a trans woman, who's a CW2 in the Virginia National Guard, that is being named by Trumpers on social media as the pilot. She is alive and well, and had to post on Facebook a "proof of life" video and statement.
So JUST STOP. (yes, I know the President giving his verdict already of why it happened)
THIS IS NO WAY TO RUN A COUNTRY
Anonymous wrote:We went from supposed "DEI hires" where no accidents happened to the DUI hire Pete Hegseth where right out of the gate we have the worst air disaster in 25 years and the guy couldn't even be bothered to show up for the press conference over how a military helo took out a passenger plane full of ice skating kids. What's the deal, still drunk? Hangover?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Sam Lilley graduated in 2018 with a degree in marketing but decided to become a pilot. He had earlier graduated from Richmond Hill High School, just south of Savannah, Georgia, where he had been an active member of Coastal Community Christian Church.
His father: “This is undoubtedly the worst day of my life,” said Timothy Lilley, who also is a longtime pilot and served as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot for 20 years, noting he flew similar routes in and out of the Pentagon.
Ryan O’Hara was one of three soldiers aboard the Black Hawk helicopter.
“Ryan was just the most committed, disciplined person I remember working with,” said Josh Muehlendorf, a senior instructor pilot in the U.S. Army. “He had such great integrity.”
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said on the social platform X that the state was mourning the death of Andrew Eaves, who was also aboard the Army helicopter.
Eaves was from the small town of Brooksville in eastern Mississippi, Reeves said.
Reaves was apparently the pilot:
As per reports, Eaves was the Chief Warrant Office 2 of Mississippi. He grew up in the Brooksville and graduated from Central Academy. He said to be with Bravo Company, 12th Aviation Battalion out of Davison Army Airfield, Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
"Andrew was a kind, loving, fun-loving and patriotic man," Eaves' family said in a statement. "He loved his wife and kids fiercely and would have done anything to take care of them. He was a great son and loved his mom and brother dearly. He was an absolute joy to be around and would light up every room he entered, and was always the life of the party. He was a true all-American hero, and will be deeply missed by anyone lucky enough to have known him."
From AP, Economic Times, and WAPT, an ABC affiliate in Jackson.
Deranged MAGAs on X were trying to claim the pilot was "a DEI hire" and "a transwoman" - yet the pilot was straight, white, male and married.
MAGAs are out of control with their incessant lying. MAGAs suck.
You forgot the 5th spot on the Bingo card--all from the Bible Belt South.
Yup. Not only straight, white, male and married but southern (Mississippi) and probably a Christian and Trump supporter too.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:How would you even prove this? Like if the pilot was Hispanic or gay or female, would he see proof that he was right??
They turned down over a 1,000 white men.
Do you know how hard it is to become an air traffic controller? Super hard. If you don't meet the standard, you are not accepted. There are no exceptions. If they didn't get hired, they didn't have what it takes.
Mediocre white men believe they are owed.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Sam Lilley graduated in 2018 with a degree in marketing but decided to become a pilot. He had earlier graduated from Richmond Hill High School, just south of Savannah, Georgia, where he had been an active member of Coastal Community Christian Church.
His father: “This is undoubtedly the worst day of my life,” said Timothy Lilley, who also is a longtime pilot and served as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot for 20 years, noting he flew similar routes in and out of the Pentagon.
Ryan O’Hara was one of three soldiers aboard the Black Hawk helicopter.
“Ryan was just the most committed, disciplined person I remember working with,” said Josh Muehlendorf, a senior instructor pilot in the U.S. Army. “He had such great integrity.”
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said on the social platform X that the state was mourning the death of Andrew Eaves, who was also aboard the Army helicopter.
Eaves was from the small town of Brooksville in eastern Mississippi, Reeves said.
Reaves was apparently the pilot:
As per reports, Eaves was the Chief Warrant Office 2 of Mississippi. He grew up in the Brooksville and graduated from Central Academy. He said to be with Bravo Company, 12th Aviation Battalion out of Davison Army Airfield, Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
"Andrew was a kind, loving, fun-loving and patriotic man," Eaves' family said in a statement. "He loved his wife and kids fiercely and would have done anything to take care of them. He was a great son and loved his mom and brother dearly. He was an absolute joy to be around and would light up every room he entered, and was always the life of the party. He was a true all-American hero, and will be deeply missed by anyone lucky enough to have known him."
From AP, Economic Times, and WAPT, an ABC affiliate in Jackson.
Deranged MAGAs on X were trying to claim the pilot was "a DEI hire" and "a transwoman" - yet the pilot was straight, white, male and married.
MAGAs are out of control with their incessant lying. MAGAs suck.
We still don’t know who the helicopter pilot was. We only have two names from the helicopter.
This is going to very hard for his family.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:How would you even prove this? Like if the pilot was Hispanic or gay or female, would he see proof that he was right??
They turned down over a 1,000 white men.
Do you know how hard it is to become an air traffic controller? Super hard. If you don't meet the standard, you are not accepted. There are no exceptions. If they didn't get hired, they didn't have what it takes.