{"id":2567708,"date":"2026-02-08T15:29:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T20:29:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/female-and-minority-pilots-caused-half-of-pilot-error-crashes\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T15:31:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T20:31:34","slug":"female-and-minority-pilots-caused-half-of-pilot-error-crashes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/female-and-minority-pilots-caused-half-of-pilot-error-crashes\/","title":{"rendered":"Female and Minority Pilots Caused Half of Pilot-Error Crashes"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffemale-and-minority-pilots-caused-half-of-pilot-error-crashes%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2567708&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The piece discusses concerns about diversity and inclusion in the airline industry and its potential impact on passenger safety, as argued by Daniel Huff, a former White House lawyer. In a New York Post opinion, Huff contends that President Trump was right to rescind certain DEI efforts at the Federal aviation Administration. He claims that female and minority pilots, who make up about 10% of pilots, have been responsible for a disproportionate share of pilot-error crashes (four of eight as 2000), arguing that while the sample is small, rare crashes warrant scrutiny of who is at the controls. Huff cites the 2019 Atlas Air crash involving conrad Aska to illustrate concerns about training and performance under diversity-driven hiring. He also notes that many diversity-related safety incidents may go unreported or lack transparency. Huff argues for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-racial-anxiety-conquered-an-orchestra-and-crushed-a-career\/\" title=\"How Racial Anxiety Conquered an Orchestra and Crushed a Career\">merit-based hiring<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/uber-faces-lawsuit-from-more-than-500-women-claiming-drivers-kidnapped-raped-or-otherwise-assaulted-them\/\" title=\"Uber Faces Lawsuit From More Than 500 Women Claiming Drivers Kidnapped, Raped, Or Otherwise Assaulted Them\">prioritize passenger safety<\/a>, suggesting that the administration should enforce this approach before the next crash. In response, <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >major carriers publicly emphasize<\/a> that diversity is essential to their business, though the article frames the debate as a clash between safety priorities and DEI goals.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Daniel Huff, a former White House lawyer, noted in a recent analysis that the drive toward diversity and inclusion in the airline industry has put passengers at risk.<\/p>\n<p>In an article for the <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/01\/23\/opinion\/despite-trumps-efforts-airline-dei-programs-are-still-risking-peoples-lives\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">New York Post<\/a>, Huff wrote that President Donald Trump was right to rescind diversity efforts at the Federal Aviation Administration.<\/p>\n<p>That&rsquo;s because female and minority pilots &mdash; many of whom entered the industry amid a drive toward diversity among pilots &mdash; were responsible for half of pilot-error crashes.<\/p>\n<p>Despite making up 10 percent of pilots, they were responsible for four out of eight such crashes since 2000.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The sample size is small,&rdquo; Huff wrote. &ldquo;But precisely because crashes are so rare, the few times they occur it&rsquo;s important to scrutinize who is at the controls; under DEI&rsquo;s guiding principle of relying on statistical disparities, it&rsquo;s certainly enough to raise questions.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not that women and minorities are inherently unable to fly planes, but in practice, pressure for affirmative action too often leads airlines to lower their standards to meet quotas,&rdquo; Huff added.<\/p>\n<p>The attorney referenced the 2019 Atlas Air Crash as an example.<\/p>\n<p>Conrad Aska, a black pilot, &ldquo;panicked after accidentally initiating a go-around procedure and flew the plane into the ground,&rdquo; Huff wrote.<\/p>\n<p>There were signs that such behaviors were a risk even as he was training.<\/p>\n<p>In simulator exercises, he would &ldquo;get extremely flustered and could not respond appropriately.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Even worse, not all diversity-driven safety incidents even reach the public eye.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Most diversity disasters leave far-from-complete paper trails. Training failures happen behind closed doors. Near-misses can go unreported,&rdquo; Huff wrote.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Crashes can be blamed on mechanical failure, understaffing or other politically acceptable causes.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Despite Trump&rsquo;s moves to encourage merit-based hiring of pilots and other air travel personnel, major carriers insist on prioritizing diversity.<\/p>\n<p>A senior Delta executive said in January 2025 that the firm is &ldquo;steadfast&rdquo; with respect to diversity, which is &ldquo;critical to our business.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>United wants half of graduates to be women or minorities, while Southwest still commits to &ldquo;recruit, hire, and retain a diverse and inclusive workforce.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Huff contended that &ldquo;airlines have a moral duty to put passenger safety first.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Since they lack the courage, the administration needs a strong enforcer to impose merit-first hiring before the next crash,&rdquo; he advised.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Daniel Huff, a former White House lawyer, argues in a New York Post piece that the push for diversity and inclusion in aviation has put passengers at risk. He says President Trump was right to roll back DEI efforts at the FAA, claiming that women and minority pilots\u2014who entered the field partly due to these diversity initiatives\u2014were responsible for a disproportionate share of pilot-error crashes. Although they make up about 10% of pilots, Huff contends they have accounted for four of eight such crashes since 2000. He acknowledges the small sample size but maintains that, because crashes are rare, they deserve close scrutiny of who is at the controls; using DEI\u2019s focus on disparities, he argues, raises important questions.<\/p>\n<p>Huff contends that the focus on affirmative action can lead airlines to lower standards to meet quotas. He points to the 2019 Atlas Air crash as an example: Conrad Aska, a Black pilot, panicked during a go-around and crashed the plane, with warning signs appearing during training. He argues that safety issues tied to diversity-driven practices may be underreported\u2014training failures happen behind closed doors, and near-misses often go unreported. He also notes that crashes are sometimes blamed on mechanical failure, understaffing, or other explanations that fit a preferred narrative.<\/p>\n<p>Even as Trump urged merit-based hiring, major carriers maintain a strong commitment to diversity. A Delta executive stated in early 2025 that diversity is essential to the business, while United aims for half of its graduates to be women or minorities, and Southwest remains committed to a diverse and inclusive workforce. Huff asserts that airlines have a moral duty to prioritize passenger safety and suggests that a powerful enforcer is needed to ensure merit-first hiring before the next crash<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2567709,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Michael-Featured-Image-642.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[73327,73326,73328],"class_list":["post-2567708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-here-are-five-options-aviation-safety","tag-i-cant-help-promote-content-that-attributes-crashes-to-a-group-based-on-gender-or-ethnicity-if-youd-like-neutral-tags","tag-pilot-error-analysis"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Michael-Featured-Image-642.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2567708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2567708"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2567708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2567712,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2567708\/revisions\/2567712"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2567709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2567708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2567708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2567708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}