▪️When I saw this meme I instantly knew it was false. But was curious how the dazzling minds at Feminist News came to this conclusion. Turns out they actually linked to a news story in the comments, which quoted an FAA report saying, “one air traffic controller was doing the work normally assigned to two people”

▪️Feminist News misunderstood this to mean there was only one controller in the tower, which was most certainly not the case.

▪️Anyone familiar with aviation knows that controllers frequently take on multiple frequencies or jobs. Often clearance delivery will also be ground control, sometimes one controller will even handle everything; tower, ground and clearance, depending on workload. This is nothing new or remarkable, and it does NOT mean there’s only one person in the tower, certainly not in an airport like Reagan.

▪️Whether or not this was a factor in the accident remains to be seen. From this report it’s not even clear which controller they were referring to (was it tower or ground?) Generally, controllers are quite competent and can handle working two jobs. Listening to the ATC audio before the crash they didn’t sound particularly overwhelmed or rushed.

▪️From what I can tell, the controller asked if the helicopter had the CRJ in sight, they said yes, and were told to maintain visual separation with the CRJ. It’s likely they confused it with another aircraft, or lost visual, and that lead to the tragedy. So many (who know nothing) are trying to come up with alternate theories that align with their politics.