USDoT Secretary Suggests Pilots Should Lose Licenses for At-Fault Accidents

In a recent interview, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy stated that pilots should lose their licenses if they are found responsible for an incident, preempting the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) by asserting that some recent safety events involving U.S. airlines could be attributed to pilot error.

Stripping Pilots’ Licenses

Speaking exclusively to NBC, Duffy was asked whether he still stood by the statement he made following the near-miss at Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW) that pilots should lose their licenses if they make critical errors. His response was unequivocal: “Hell yes.”

The near-miss incident at MDW involved a Flexjet Bombardier Challenger 350 (N560FX) and a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-800 (N8517F). The Challenger 350 crossed the active runway as Southwest flight WN2504 was landing, prompting the Southwest pilot to execute a go-around. The 737-800 landed safely shortly afterward.

Following the incident, which resulted in no injuries, Duffy posted on X (formerly Twitter), stating: “It is imperative that pilots follow the instructions of air traffic controllers. If they do not, their licenses will be pulled.”

Meanwhile, the NTSB launched an investigation into the runway incursion, noting that the Challenger 350 entered the same runway where the Southwest flight was scheduled to land.

Circumventing the NTSB

During the same interview, Duffy suggested that a series of recent incidents involving U.S. airlines—including the mid-air collision over the Potomac River, the Delta Connection Mitsubishi (formerly Bombardier) CRJ900 landing incident in Toronto, and the MDW runway incursion—were largely due to pilot error.

While acknowledging that each case was unique, he stated, “Not all of them, and again, not exclusively, not 100%, but a majority probably of the errors go to the pilots.” He added, “There is some pilot error at play in each of these incidents.”

However, in a separate interview with Fox News, NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy emphasized that the full investigation into the MDW incident was still underway. She noted that investigators would determine why the Challenger 350 was taxiing across an active runway.

Homendy clarified that the NTSB does not believe the incident was caused by air traffic control (ATC) but rather by a failure of the Flexjet flight crew to follow the ground controller’s instructions. However, she stressed that a thorough investigation was necessary.

“We have a lot of information to collect,” Homendy said. “We want to know what was going on in the cockpit of that airplane. We will collect ATC communications, and we have requested the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR) from Flexjet, as well as the FDR from Southwest.”

American Airlines Crash & NTSB Investigation

In a separate investigation, the NTSB revealed new findings related to the American Airlines Flight 5342 mid-air collision with a U.S. Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk. According to the agency, ATC recorded the Black Hawk’s altitude at 300 feet before the crash.

Premature Conclusions and Political Commentary

Duffy’s comments are not the first instance of a high-ranking official drawing conclusions before the NTSB completes an investigation. During his administration, former President Donald Trump suggested that diversity policies were to blame for the PSA Airlines CRJ900 mid-air collision. He claimed he had reversed Obama-era hiring standards that were “very mediocre at best” and replaced them with “extraordinary” ones for those working within the National Aviation System (NAS), according to CNN.

The baseless blaming of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies extended to the Delta Connection incident at Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ), where some social media users falsely attributed the event to the fact that the first officer was a woman.

Delta Air Lines responded to the misinformation on February 20, stating:

“We are correcting disinformation on social media containing false and misleading assertions about the flight crew of Endeavor Air 4819.”

The airline clarified that the captain had been hired in 2007 and had served as a pilot training and safety instructor. Claims that he had failed training were false.

Furthermore, the first officer, hired in January 2024, successfully completed training in April and had been flying for the airline since. Delta emphasized that her flight experience exceeded the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) requirements.

As investigations into these incidents continue, the debate over pilot accountability and regulatory oversight remains heated. While the USDoT Secretary calls for stricter consequences, the NTSB insists on a thorough, unbiased review process before drawing conclusions.

Sources: AirGuide Business airguide.info, bing.com, simpleflying.com