Fact-checking Trump's claims about diversity schemes and the Washington plane crash

Former U.S. President Donald Trump recently made remarks suggesting that diversity programs implemented by his predecessors may have contributed to the mid-air collision between a passenger plane and a helicopter in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, sparking controversy. During a press conference on Thursday, Trump stated that during the Obama and Biden administrations, there was a possibility of hiring candidates with "serious intellectual and mental disabilities" as air traffic controllers (ATC). He suggested, without substantiation, that this might be a cause of the accident.

When questioned by reporters about why he believed this, Trump responded, "Because I have common sense." The investigation into the accident, which resulted in 67 fatalities, is still ongoing. Additionally, the president also blamed the helicopter's flight path for the accident. Some aviation experts have pointed out that although there are diversity hiring programs within the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), air traffic controller candidates still need to pass rigorous medical and psychological tests.

The BBC's verification unit conducted a fact-check on the president's claims. President Trump asserted that the FAA's "diversity efforts" focused on "hiring people with serious intellectual and mental disabilities." He added, "They can be air traffic controllers." Trump appears to be referring to diversity and inclusion policies established during the Obama administration, which included "targeted disabilities that the federal government specifically emphasized in hiring and employment."

These details were publicly available on the FAA website until last December. The BBC verification unit found an archived version of the page, which listed various "targeted disabilities," including: hearing impairment, visual impairment, limb loss, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, mental disorders, and dwarfism. The FAA employs approximately 45,000 people, with around 14,000 of them being air traffic controllers. During Trump's first term, a new program was established in 2019 to provide pathways for people with disabilities to enter air traffic operations.

At the time, the FAA stated in a press release that the program's purpose was to "help people with disabilities prepare for careers in air traffic operations," and that up to 20 people would receive one year of training at various air traffic control centers. The press release also emphasized that "candidates for this program will undergo the same rigorous scrutiny as standard publicly recruited air traffic controller positions in terms of competency, medical, and safety qualifications." The FAA stated in a blog post that one of the program's first three graduates became an air traffic control intern in August 2021.

Candidates seeking to become air traffic controllers must undergo years of training, as well as physical and psychological testing. The FAA states that they screen for psychological issues during the hiring process. Former FAA head Randy Babbitt told NewsNation, "The standards to become an air traffic controller are very, very high. Diversity has nothing to do with it." The BBC verification unit has asked the FAA if they have hired any air traffic controllers with severe intellectual or mental disabilities since 2013, but has not yet received a response.

Speaking about the standards of the aviation agency during the Obama administration, Trump said, "They actually put out a directive that said 'too white'." In 2011, Obama did launch an initiative aimed at making the FAA a "more diverse and inclusive workplace," but this did not label the agency as "too white." The Obama administration also added a "biographical questionnaire" to the air traffic control hiring process as part of efforts to hire more diverse candidates. Previously, multiple reviews had found equal opportunity issues with the FAA's hiring process.

In 2019, a law firm representing over 2,500 aspiring air traffic controllers filed a lawsuit against the FAA regarding the questionnaire. The firm claimed that the questionnaire gave higher scores to candidates who selected certain multiple-choice answers regarding socio-economic background. Regarding work experience questions, the firm stated that applicants would receive the highest score if they indicated they had not worked in the past three years. The BBC verification unit could not independently verify the questionnaire's scoring system. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit argued that they were discriminated against for not fitting the "preferred racial profile" that the FAA identified in the biographical questionnaire.

The FAA and the Department of Transportation are contesting the lawsuit. The questionnaire was removed from air traffic controller hiring in 2018 during the Trump administration. In 2024, the questionnaire was removed from wider FAA hiring after Congressional Republicans included a provision to abolish it in an appropriations bill that was signed by then-President Biden. According to data from the agency's civil rights office, the diversity of FAA employees has gradually increased in some aspects in recent years. In 2016, under the Obama administration, white men made up 59% of the total workforce, and people with targeted disabilities made up 0.7%. In 2020, the final year of Trump's first term, white men made up 57%, and people with targeted disabilities made up 1%. By 2023, these figures were 55% and 2%, respectively.