On The Job Training

(On The Job Training)

One of the more entertaining series on the Smithsonian Channel is Air Disasters. The program re-creates air crashes and other disasters and airs a program describing the event using computer animation. One such episode named "Blind Spot" relates the crash of Pacific Southeast Airlines, Flight 182, a Boeing 727, that on September 26th, 1978. collided with a Cessna on approach to San Diego's Lindburgh Airport.


There were no survivors from either aircraft and there were nine fatalities on the ground. Lindburg Approach had both the 727 and the Cessna on radar and advised PSA. The Cessna pilot was taking an instrument check and had his head inside a box so all he could see was the instrument panel. It would have been incumbent on the Boeing crew to maintain visual contact with the smaller plane. However, the area around the airport is cluttered and the Cessna disappeared from view. Soon after, the planes collided and as one can see from the image, the Boeing's right wing was compromised.


Now, in circumstances almost identical to those from the 1978 crash, one has a commercial aircraft, on approach for landing, and it again collides with another aircraft, an Army Blackhawk, on its own check flight and, sadly there were survivors here either. However, this is not the next Air Disasters episode, though it would not necessarily be a surprise if this crash is made into one. The point is that those Members of the Trump Cabinet, Secretary Hegseth at Defense and Duffy at Transportation.


Mere hours from being confirmed, both Secretaries and Transportation are on the job dealing with their first crisis. In contrast to the previous Administration, one could hardly expect Defense Secretary Austin, much less Mayor Pete when he was at Transportation to be so aggressive in dealing with situations such as this crash.


As far as the President's other Nominees, Robert F Kennedy Jr for Health and Human Services, faced a gauntlet from hysterically hostile Democrats. Other Trump selections like Kash Patel for FBI and Tulsi Gabbard for DNI would seem to be the most controversial. However, Republican Senators are not there to be safe. Their mandate is that they clear the remaining Nominees and put them in respective offices.

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