KAROLINE Leavitt has blasted Senator Chuck Schumer after he blamed President Donald Trump for recent plane crashes.
Trump’s press secretary, 28, criticized Schumer for connecting Trump’s layoffs to the Delta plane accident in Toronto this week.
On Monday night, a plane from Minneapolis crash-landed at Toronto Pearson Airport, but all 80 passengers survived.
Democrats, led by Schumer, blamed Trump for the accident due to his recent cuts to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Schumer, 74, said aviation incidents are happening “day after day,” referring to a series of other plane mishaps including a collision in Washington DC that killed 67 people and a medevac crash in Philadelphia that killed seven people.
“Meanwhile, Trump’s doing massive layoffs at the FAA—including safety specialists—and making our skies less and less safe,” Schumer blasted on X.
‘INCREDIBLY IRRESPONSIBLE’
Leavitt destroyed Schumer with a fiery response in an appearance on Fox News on Tuesday.
“It’s incredibly irresponsible for Chuck Schumer to say such a thing when the investigation is still underway,” the press secretary said.
“This crash unfortunately took place in Canadian airspace with Canadian air traffic controllers overseeing it,” she explained, arguing that the US wasn’t responsible for the crash.
However, Leavitt said the crash wasn’t due to the recent layoffs, like Schumer said.
The Trump administration started firing several hundred FAA employees on Monday, David Spero, the president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists union, said in a statement.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said less than 400 FAA employees were fired and “zero air traffic controllers and critical safety personnel were let go” in a statement on X.
“‘In fact, Secretary Duffy has put great emphasis on hiring the best and the brightest air-traffic controllers who want to be part of the FAA,” Leavitt said as she shredded Schumer.
She added Trump wants to make sure the FAA is “focused on merit and skill-based hiring.”
“We want the best and the brightest, the most competent individuals in positions especially of public safety at the FAA, the Department of Transportation, and all departments across this federal government, so we can best serve the American people,” she concluded.
SENATOR’S RESPONSE
Schumer fired back at Leavitt’s response on Wednesday morning.
“Here are the facts: This flight took off from Minneapolis,” Schumer said on X.
“The FAA was still responsible for inspecting the aviation equipment, and Trump just fired FAA safety specialists.”
He added, “The Trump administration turns away from the facts, and it’s hurting Americans. Democrats are fighting to protect the flying public.”
‘Freak accident’ is something ‘from the movies’
Scott Keyes, founder and chief flight expert at the Going travel app, shared insights with The U.S. Sun following the Delta plane crash at Torotno Pearson International Airport on February 17.
Regarding the cause of the Toronto plane crash:
“It’s too early to speculate what precisely happened, I’m afraid. It’s certainly safe to call it a “freak accident” and that may be understating just how rare a scene like this is. An inverted passenger plane is something moviegoers saw in Denzel Washington’s 2012 film Flight—not something we see in reality until today.”
Regarding smaller jets having been involved in recent crashes:
“While it’s certainly unexpected to have two major incidents in a row take place on small aircraft, it’s not totally shocking. Around one-third of commercial aircraft in the US are smaller planes like the Delta CRJ seen today. We’ll wait and see for the investigators’ report, but given the differing circumstances of Toronto and DCA, I think it’s highly unlikely that this is a built-in aircraft issue similar to what we saw with successive 737 MAX crashes.”
Regarding air travel safety:
“You are far, far more likely to get in an accident on your drive to the airport than on your flight from the airport. On a per-mile basis, your mortality risk in a car is over 100 times higher than in a passenger plane. The fact that incidents like these grab so much attention is because of their rarity.”
— Scott Keyes, founder and chief flight expert at the Going travel app
Trump supporters piled on to Schumer, backing Leavitt in diminishing his claims.
“Nice political move Chuck. You’re beyond insufferable, you really are. I’d never want to be you,” one slammed.
“Sit this one out buddy,” another wrote.
A third ripped, “It amazes me how incredibly stupid & dishonest you are with the public.
“Blaming Trump for a plane crash in Canada shows you are lower than snake s***! You are a disgrace to public office.”
The reason for Monday’s crash isn’t known as it’s still being investigated by the Canadian Transportation Safety Board, the US National Transportation Safety Board, and the FAA.
TERRIFYING CRASH
Horrifying video from the Delta plane crash scene showed the aircraft skidding on the snow-covered runway at the Toronto airport.
The plane’s right wing was ripped off as the jet burst into flames before flipping upside down.
Panicked passengers were forced to crawl along the plane’s ceiling to escape the near-disaster.
Officials confirmed 21 people were treated for injuries and two victims were airlifted to trauma centers for critical but non-life-threatening injuries.
One child was also taken to a children’s hospital after the crash.
Toronto Pearson President and CEO Deborah Flint later noted the airport had “extreme conditions” at the time of the mishap due to severe weather over the weekend.
BLAME GAME CONTINUES
The latest airplane crash came after Trump blamed the devastating DCA collision between a military helicopter and an American Airlines plane on diversity initiatives.
After holding a moment of silence for the grieving nation the day after the horrific incident, the president criticized the FAA’s DEI efforts in a press briefing.
“The FAA is actively recruiting workers who suffer severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems, and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative spelled out on the agency’s website,” he said.
“We have to have our smartest people,” he said, adding, “They have to be naturally talented geniuses.”
Trump has made eradicating diversity initiatives one of his priorities during the start of his second administration.
