The nation was horrified late Wednesday by the first significant commercial aviation crash in the United States in almost ten years, just hours after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy took office.
With strong bipartisan support, the Senate approved Duffy as President Trump’s choice to head the Department of Transportation on Tuesday.
Vice President JD Vance swore him in Wednesday afternoon. Later that evening, an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional airliner collided in midair close to Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C.
The following information relates to the recently appointed Transportation Secretary:
Who is Sean Duffy?
From 2011 to 2019, Duffy, 53, served as a representative for Wisconsin in the House of Representatives. In the past, he was Ashland County, Wisconsin’s district attorney.
Prior to Mr. Trump announcing his appointment as transportation secretary, he co-hosted a show on Fox Business and contributed to Fox News after leaving Congress. He has nine children with his wife.
Duffy’s new position aims to “usher in a golden age of transportation and travel.” He emphasized the significance of safety in his work at an earlier this month appearance before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.
Duffy stated, “In aviation, safety will remain a top priority,” emphasising the need for more air traffic controllers in the nation and promising to endeavour to update systems with state-of-the-art technology. He pledged to bring Boeing back into the public’s trust “and to ensure that our skies are safe.”
Duffy made a promise to “craft clear regulations which balances safety, innovation and cutting-edge technology, but always focused on safety.”
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Reacting to the plane crash in D.C.
The newly appointed transportation secretary claimed to be at the Federal Aviation Administration’s headquarters by Wednesday evening and to have instructed the FAA and Transportation Department to assist the National Transportation Safety Board in its investigation into the incident.
Duffy briefed reporters on the crash at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in the early hours of Thursday morning with the mayor of Washington, D.C., and emergency response authorities.
When asked how he was feeling following the crash that happened a few hours after he took on the post, Duffy responded that he was concentrating on the people who were affected.
“I’ve been the secretary for a little over a day, and the tragedy that we’re going to deal with with this recovery I think is touching everyone’s hearts,” Duffy stated.
Duffy gave the public reassurance that American airspace is still safe during a separate press conference later Thursday morning.
“I will tell you with complete confidence that we have the safest airspace in the world,” Duffy stated.
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At a White House briefing, Duffy joined President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to describe the “whole of government response” to the tragedy. He also pledged to “get to the bottom of this investigation — not in three years, not in four years, but as quickly as possible.”
“What happened yesterday shouldn’t have happened. It should not have happened,” Duffy stated. “And when Americans take off in airplanes, they should expect to land at their destination.”
