When applying to a job as important as the head of the Federal Aviation Administration, you would expect a certain degree of job experience in that industry, as you would with, well, pretty much any job candidate. And yet, it would seem that once again, Democratic President Joe Biden has picked someone who knows little to nothing about that would be position or the industry it includes.
Introducing Phil Washington, who was recently interviewed during a Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday to determine his fitness for the job.
Naturally, during such an interview, the employer (Senate and administration members) asked Washington a number of questions about his previous experience and knowledge within the aviation industry.
As I said, heading up the agency that ensures that aircraft are safe, their pilots are correctly licensed, and that all take-offs and landings are performed correctly is a rather important job. As such, that person should have at least some first-hand understanding of how things are supposed to work and what the rules are, right?
To determine his level of knowledge, North Carolina Republican Senator Ted Budd, who is also a licensed pilot, asked Washington a series of basic aviation questions. You know, the kind of things you’d expect anyone in his line of work to understand, let alone the head of the FAA.
And yet, out of the seven questions proposed to him, he didn’t answer a single one correctly. Hell, for all but one, he didn’t even have an answer.
The first was a question about the ADS-B transponder and the airspace it requires. For those who don’t know what this is, it’s a piece of technology that transmits accurate positional information to ground controllers and other aircraft. And given just how accurate it is, it allows air traffic controllers to potentially reduce the amount of required airspace or distance between ADS-B-equipped aircraft.
But Washington didn’t even know what ADS-B, also known as ADS-B Out, even was, let alone what that distance could be reduced to.
The next question asked him what the six types of special use airspace are that protect national security on FAA charts.
Washington’s response: “Sorry, senator, I cannot answer that question.”
Now, he did have an answer for the next question but seeing as he didn’t know a thing about aviation, it was wrong.
What are the operational limitations of a pilot flying under BasicMed?
After attempting to say that he couldn’t answer it, as he’s “not a pilot,” he finally shouted out a guess.
“Well, some of the restrictions, I think, would be high blood pressure, some of them would be…. “
It was here that Budd cut him off since, so far, his answer was way off base. As Budd explained, BasicMed allows pilots to fly without a medical certificate. However, they are limited to only certain aircraft types, with a limited size, number of passengers, weight, etc. It has nothing to do with the pilot’s health or blood pressure levels.
At least he tried, right?
Next question: What causes planes to stall or spin out? No answer.
Followed by: What are three certifications the FAA requires for aircraft manufacturing? Again nothing.
Now, the fact that another Biden nominee knows literally nothing about his supposed industry shouldn’t shock us. Look at the current head of the Department of Transportation, the FAA’s boss. The only redeeming qualities of Pete Buttigieg are the liberal boxes he checked. He is openly gay, anti-guns, and totally inept at his previous jobs.
The same goes for another recent Biden nominee, this one for District Court judge. When asked by a similar panel in a Senate confirmation hearing, Charnelle Bjelkengren proved she didn’t know even the most basic questions about our Constitution. Imagine a judge who doesn’t know what our Constitution says.
I mean, the embarrassment is real… or at least it should be.
Then again, having a president who can’t remember his former boss’s name anymore is also rather embarrassing.
