Investigators recover recorders from airliner involved in midair collision
The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the regional jet that was involved in the midair collision with an Army Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River on Wednesday night have been recovered by investigators. The recorders were taken to the NTSB’s laboratories where their data will be analyzed. The NTSB said it hopes to have a preliminary report on the accident in about 30 days. The full report that includes the probable cause of the accident generally can take from one to two years in major accident investigations such as this. More than half of the bodies of the 67 people on board the regional jet and military helicopter had been recovered as of Friday morning.
Trump appoints acting FAA administrator after midair collision over the Potomac
After not having anyone in the position of FAA Administrator in his new administration, following the midair collision over the Potomac Donald Trump named Chris Rocheleau to the position of acting FAA administrator. Rocheleau is a career professional at the FAA and served as CEO of the National Business Aviation Association. There have been reports that FAA controller staffing in the control tower of Reagan National Airport was below the full level on Wednesday night when the midair collision over the Potomac took place.
Trump tries to blame Obama and Biden policies for midair collision
At a news conference the day after the midair collision over the Potomac, Donald Trump attempted to turn the tragedy into a political football by blaming policies of the Obama and Biden administrations for the accident. Trump accused Obama and Biden of forcing the FAA to use diversity, equity and inclusion policies in deciding who to hire as air traffic controllers. However, Trump showed his ignorance of controller hiring and training since the FAA does not use DEI in controller hiring and in fact the FAA uses highly competitive testing to decide who gets to attend the FAA Academy and begin the process of controller training. It takes many years to become a fully qualified controller at a major airport such as Reagan National.
FDA approves new pain killer
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new pain killer that appears to avoid the dangers of addiction associated with opioids. It’s called Journavx and is made by Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The drug is said to be not as effective as opioids and is about 15 times as expensive as opioids such as OxyContin. Vertex says that the drug can be taken twice a day by adults who suffer from moderate to severe pain. The company says that more than 80 million Americans are prescribed medication for chronic pain each year.
Consumer prices rise in December
Consumer prices went up by 2.6% in December, reflecting a slight increase in inflation. A report by the Commerce Department released today showed that personal income increased $92 billion, 0.4% at a monthly rate, in December. Disposable personal income increased $79.7 billion (0.4%) and personal consumption expenditures increased $133.6 billion (0.7%). The personal saving rate, personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income, was 3.8%. The $133.6 billion increase in personal consumption expenditures in December reflected an increase of $78.2 billion in spending for services and $55.4 billion in spending for goods.
Hearings for three controversial appointments held at the same time
Hearings for three of Donald Trump’s most controversial cabinet nominees were held at the same time yesterday on Capitol Hill. The hearings were for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to become head of Health and Human Services, Kash Patel to become head of the FBI, and Tulsi Gabbard to become director of national intelligence. All three avoided answering numerous questions and refused to confirm past comments and positions even when confronted with their exact quotes. For example, Patel denied having said that on his first day as FBI chief he would shut down FBI headquarters in Washington even though the video of him making that pledge has been widely seen.
