As Pete Buttigieg gears up for a potential 2028 presidential run, sporting a new beard in an attempt to project a more mature image, he may find his past performance as Transportation Secretary under scrutiny.
His record, particularly regarding a critical communication failure between the Pentagon and Washington National Airport, could prove to be a significant stumbling block.
According to RedState, a crucial hotline between the Pentagon and the air traffic control at Washington National Airport has been non-functional since 2022. This seemingly routine malfunction took a tragic turn in January when a military helicopter collided with a regional airliner, resulting in the deaths of 67 individuals. Under normal circumstances, the Department of Defense would have used this hotline to inform air traffic control about the presence and intentions of its aircraft in the vicinity.
"A hotline connecting air traffic controllers at Reagan National Airport and their counterparts at the Pentagon has been 'inoperable' since March 2022," confirmed a Federal Aviation Administration official on Wednesday. This revelation underscores the lack of safety coordination between federal agencies responsible for the airspace where the fatal midair collision occurred in January.
Franklin McIntosh, the FAAs deputy head of air traffic control, testified at a Senate hearing that the aviation agency was unaware of the outage during the three years it was down. The Defense Department is responsible for maintaining the line. The malfunction was discovered after May 1 when controllers at National had to order two passenger jets to abort landings due to an Army helicopter circling nearby at the Pentagon.
Such hotlines are commonplace across the national airspace, facilitating coordination between adjoining air traffic control sectors and airport towers. The question arises: who was in charge when the hotline went offline in 2022 and remained unrepaired for the next three years? The answer points to Pete Buttigieg, whose tenure as Transportation Secretary is perhaps most remembered for his extended "paternity leave," taken without public knowledge.
In the aftermath of the January crash, Buttigieg was quick to point fingers at the Trump administration. He claimed that his team had prioritized safety, reduced near-misses, expanded Air Traffic Control, and prevented commercial airline crash fatalities. However, his assertion that the personnel Trump put on leave were somehow connected to the crash at DCA was misleading at best.
Buttigieg's role as Transportation Secretary remains shrouded in ambiguity, with no significant achievements to his name. Despite this, he frequently appeared on television defending Biden on political matters. His aspirations for the presidency seem far-fetched, given the potential for further revelations about his past performance.
The Trump administration was informed of the hotline outage on May 1, and the Pentagon has since suspended all flights in the corridors around DCA until repairs are completed. The delay in restoring a simple phone line underscores the inefficiencies of the federal government. As Buttigieg contemplates a presidential run, he may need to brace himself for further scrutiny of his past performance and its implications for his future political ambitions.
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