U.S. Army helicopter collided with a descending American Airlines passenger plane over the Potomac River en route to the Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. There were no survivors. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) — which is experiencing a severe vacancy of top leadership positions — has come under fire for suspected negligence amid a staffing and funding deficit.

In the aftermath of the tragic plane crash in Washington, D.C. that has resulted in dozens of casualties, the blame game has begun and billionaire Elon Musk is weighing in on who may be at fault. The crash saw American Airlines Flight 5342 collide with the U.

Mike Whitaker, the previous FAA administrator, stepped down on Inauguration Day after just over a year on the job. He’d repeatedly clashed with Elon Musk — now in charge of a group tasked with slashing the government’s headcount by President Donald Trump — over safety issues at his space company,

While that office may be ready to go to work, the FAA itself is not fully on the job. That’s because it’s without an administrator. Michael Whitaker, who had led the administration since Oct., 2023, stepped down earlier this month,

The leader of the Federal Aviation Administration stepped down from his position mere months after billionaire Elon Musk demanded that he do so, meaning that the FAA is missing a chief in the aftermath of the worst aviation disaster in the US in years.