(Townhall) Phil Washington, President Joe Biden’s nominee to serve as administrator of the FAA, continues to face questions about his qualifications to serve in the role, and his testimony before Congress isn’t dispelling doubts about his ability to run America’s civil aviation system and keep its citizens safe when they fly.
Already, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) has raised concerns about Washington’s experience and resume, suggesting President Biden is “playing politics” rather than prioritizing the safety and efficiency of America’s air transportation system. Washington’s previous gigs have also seen accusations of wasteful spending and mismanagement of resources, as Townhall reported previously. And, while he served honorably in the military, lawmakers pointed out that Washington has no experience or qualifications related to aviation safety.
That was abundantly clear this week as Washington testified before the Senate Commerce Committee when Senator Ted Budd (R-NC) asked Biden’s FAA nominee questions that an FAA administrator would need to know. Not only did Washington fail to impress senators with his answers, he had no answers. In fact, it was absolutely brutal.
First, Washington was asked a basic question about what airspace designation requires pilots to have an ADS-B transponder.
Ok, maybe not everyone knows this.
The second question also dealt with airspace designations created by the FAA, the agency Biden wants Washington to lead.
So, now it seems like Washington has maybe never even looked at an FAA chart? For those at home (or Washington if he sees this and needs a study guide) the six special use airspace designations are prohibited, restricted, warning, military operations, alert, and national security areas. A seventh, controlled firing areas, is not charted.
Getting away from charts, the third question raised FAA medical regulations.
What a relief to find out Washington is not a pilot. But he would be running the agency that oversees all the civilian pilots operating in the Untied States so maybe he should brush up on some of this stuff? This one is great because what Washington seemed to think was an educated guess couldn’t have been more wrong.
For his fourth question, Budd sought to judge Washington’s knowledge of the basics, but that didn’t go well either.
To not know what causes a plane to spin, or even just to stall, is perhaps Washington’s roughest admission. I’m pretty sure middle school science classes discuss the principles of flight and the whole idea that air needs to be moving over a wing at a certain speed to generate enough lift to sustain flight.
The fifth question returned to FAA regulations dealing with aircraft, an important aspect of keeping Americans safe when they fly. It also did not go well.
Alas, Washington did not get lucky on the sixth question either.
Let’s hope guessing isn’t how Washington plans to administer the FAA if his nomination gets approved… which doesn’t seem likely.
The seventh and final attempt by Budd to find an area of aviation safety or FAA regulations Washington could talk about also failed when he was asked about drone regulations.
So, the guy Biden wants to put in charge of the FAA doesn’t know what the FAA requires for aircraft identification and tracking, how the FAA delineates airspace over the United States, what the FAA’s medical standards require, how airplanes stall, how the FAA certifies airplanes, how the FAA separates aircraft around airports, or how the FAA regulates drones. At least Washington wasn’t willing “to guess” on how much distance is required for planes landing or departing from U.S. airports?
