On Thursday, Elon Musk urged retired air traffic controllers to return to work.
In January, 67 people were killed in a fatal air collision between a Black Hawk helicopter and a commercial American Airlines plane at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
At the time of the collision, a single air traffic controller was overseeing the helicopters and planes at Reagan National Airport Tower. This is a position that usually requires two workers.
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However, aviation experts say even the most experienced pilots in peak flight conditions can face challenges in the busy airspace around Reagan Airport.
“This was a disaster waiting to happen,” said Ross Amer, retired United Airlines captain and chief executive officer, aero consulting expert. “We’ve been screaming for so long that this is going to happen because our system is stretching so far and far, and we’re screaming into the vacuum.”
The January 2025 update of the FAA website provides an overview of agency employment goals.
The Trump administration has cut many jobs across multiple federal sectors, including the FAA, part of a larger campaign to reduce government waste, fraud, abuse and scale.
In the weeks following the commercial plane and Army helicopter collision, FAA probation workers were let go in with the latest efforts by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an advisory board led by Musk.
The Trump administration has been criticized for targeting the FAA that was given a crash.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
