Congressman on Plane Clipped by Another’s Wing Blames Trump’s FAA Cuts – Twitchy

Two American Airlines jets clipped wings earlier Thursday at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. Fortunately, no one was injured, including several members of Congress who were waiting to depart. 

🚨#BREAKING: Two American Airlines planes clipped wings at Reagan National Airport with some Congress being on board

📌#Washington | #DC

Two American Airlines planes clipped wings on the tarmac at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., earlier today. According to… pic.twitter.com/riBig4t4Zu

— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) April 10, 2025

… According to officials, the incident occurred while one of the aircraft was taxiing and the other was preparing for departure. Fortunately, no injuries have been reported. All passengers and crew members were safely evacuated and removed from the aircraft as a precaution. Several members of Congress have confirmed they were on board one of the flights, though none were harmed.

As mentioned in that Fox News report, Congressman Nick LaLota posted about it on X, calling it a “once-in-a-lifetime experience” and saying he was thankful everyone was OK.

Then there was Rep. Josh Gottheimer, who reminded us of recent cuts of probationary employees at the FAA.

While waiting to take off on the runway at DCA just now, another plane struck our wing. Thankfully, everyone is safe.

Just a reminder: Recent cuts to the FAA weaken our skies and public safety.

— Rep Josh Gottheimer (@RepJoshG) April 10, 2025

Back in February, fewer than 400 probationary workers who’d been on the job for less than a year were cut from the FAA. New Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy posted on X that “Zero air traffic controllers and critical safety personnel were let go.” Nevertheless, there’s been a microscope on every aviation mishap since then, with CNN even trying to tie a Delta plane flipping over in Toronto on President Donald Trump: “Trump Makes Cuts to FAA Amid String of Plane Accidents,” CNN reported, ignoring that the latest plane accident happened in Canada.

Recommended

Duffy replied:

Glad to hear everyone on board is safe.

But stop the fear mongering and let’s stick to the facts.

No safety-critical positions at the FAA have been cut.

I look forward to your support for @POTUS’ plan to build an all new, state of the art air traffic control system. https://t.co/h5ODy2znt0

— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) April 10, 2025

Just a reminder: no air traffic controllers were fired. But recent cuts to the FAA weaken our public safety.

Liar.

— JimmyB 🇺🇸 (@MOTT7) April 10, 2025

pic.twitter.com/GbyVZVIOY2

— sarainitaly 🌷🌷🌷 (@sarainitaly) April 10, 2025

When a representative has to lie like this, all his decisions should be scrutinized

— Sue Conn (@SueConn73899798) April 10, 2025

Was the FAA the pilot of either of those planes?

— Dawgs Dog (@Callingalldawgz) April 10, 2025

Sorry about your delay

However there have been NO recent cuts to air and ground traffic control personnel.

— Christopher Fishell (@chieffishell) April 10, 2025

Enjoy your ratio, you walking turnip.

— Grateful Calvin (@shoveitjack) April 10, 2025

That’s so cute. You tried to gaslight like the big boys and failed. Tooooo cute!

— SassyTok (@sassafras0910) April 10, 2025

@CommunityNotes

— Jimmyjomax (@jimmyjomax) April 10, 2025

There is a proposed Community Note:

AA had nothing to do with the error. The pilot and ground crew of Rep Gottheimer’s plane clipped the other plane, which was stationary. FAA had no control of the situation. It is misleading to attribute needing additional funding to FAA as there was no causational effect.

A few things, Josh:

1. You were not in the sky
2. This is nothing beyond pilot error
3. This is an issue with a private company not the FAA
4. You are a lawn flamingo attempting to politicize an accident in which there were no injuries https://t.co/V1lzgKlU60

— Brad Slager: CNN+ Lifetime Subscriber (@MartiniShark) April 10, 2025

Was the pilot a DEI hire? We know we’re not supposed to ask that, but just a reminder.

***