Did Donald Trump really fire air traffic controllers before the DC mid-air collision?

We are now weeks out from the fatal DC mid-air collision that left 67 people dead, after a passenger plane approaching Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport crashed into a U.S. military helicopter. As the dust settles on the tragedy — and despite the occurrence of at least three other U.S. plane incidents since — people are now coming to terms with the cause of the Black Hawk collision in Potomac, including the actions of the government at the behest of President Donald Trump. 

Trump had been in office for just over a week at the time of the collision on Jan. 29, and as onlookers sought to make sense of the tragedy, some laid blame on the president’s maneuvers within the Federal Aviation Administration, the agency responsible for the regulation and oversight of civil aviation within the U.S. One claim that circulated widely on social media was that, just days before the DC mid-air collision, Trump had fired scores of air traffic controllers. This was taken by critics as evidence of Trump’s role in the air crash, but how true is the claim?

The claim that Donald Trump fired air traffic controllers took off on social media. 

Trump fired 400 FAA senior officials, the TSA head, and 3,000 air traffic controllers just 8 days ago. Policy choices have consequences.

Today, American Airlines Flight 5342 collided with a Blackhawk over the Potomac, killing 65 Americans.

This is the Trump #PlaneCrash #AA5342 pic.twitter.com/0LMCg3jeQD

— The News Desk (@TheNewsDeskLive) January 30, 2025

In the days following the DC mid-air collision, one claim widely circulated on social media was that President Donald Trump had fired “3,000 air traffic controllers” as part of his sweeping executive orders following his inauguration. While the claim took off on X, fact-checking resource Snopes later reported that there was no evidence to suggest Trump had fired that specific number of 3,000 air traffic controllers, but did speak more broadly of Trump’s changes to the FAA. 

These changes included ending of the Biden administration’s FAA hiring policy, which Trump said “prioritized diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) over safety and efficiency.” Another change initiated by Trump in the early days of his second term that likewise impacted the FAA was his ordering of its Administrator, to review the performance of FAA employees in “critical safety positions.” Trump also initiated a federal hiring freeze just one week before the crash, but that applied to all executive departments and agencies, with the number of specifically affected air traffic controllers remaining unknown. 

While these changes may have resulted in some firings, there is still no evidence that the terminations numbered into the thousands, as the initial social media claim suggested. 

Trump did fire members of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee.

Just days before the collision, Trump had already fired all the members of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee, panel mandated by Congress after the 1988 PanAm 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland. The committee is charged with examining safety issues at airlines & airports. https://t.co/6jG11eoBkT

— Matilda Jude MD (@MatildaAlistar) February 18, 2025

While Trump’s firing of air traffic controllers in particular remains unclear, we know that, days before the mid-air collision, the president terminated all members of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee. It is the panel that is responsible for examining safety issues at airlines and airports, and it was completely gutted by the Trump administration just days after the inauguration. According to New Republic, members of the committee received a memo from the Trump administration saying that the Department of Homeland Security was getting rid of the membership of all advisory committees relating to the ASAC, whose safety recommendations had long been adopted into standard air travel procedure.

That firing of the ASAC members occurred on Jan. 22, meaning the committee was out of commission for more than a week until the mid-air collision on Jan. 29. While that move came in tandem with Trump’s firing of the heads of the Transportation Security Administration — roles also involved in aviation safety — experts have said his moves came into effect too soon before the crash to have contributed in any major way. 

Trump has since fired air traffic controllers after the mid-air collision. 

DEVELOPING: The Trump Administration has started firing "several hundred" FAA probationary employees who maintain critical air traffic control infrastructure, according to their union.

The move comes not even three weeks since the deadly midair collision over Washington, D.C. pic.twitter.com/nAxBKHpifc

— Pete Muntean (@petemuntean) February 17, 2025

While his actions within the FAA before the mid-air collision remain unclear, Trump has, in the weeks after the tragedy, begun firing several hundred air traffic control staff, including personnel hired for FAA radar, landing, and navigational aid maintenance.