United Airlines is introducing a new seating option aimed at making long flights more comfortable, especially for families traveling with young children. 
The airline recently unveiled &#8220;Relax Row,&#8221; which transforms three adjacent economy seats into a lie-flat space. The feature, announced on social media, is expected to roll out in 2027.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The entire row is alllllll yours.
Welcome to United Relax Row, three adjacent United Economy seats with adjustable leg rests that can each be raised or lowered to create a cozy lie-flat space for stretching out&#8230;
You&#8217;ll also get a mattress pad, blanket and two pillows. If… <a href="https://t.co/Q6gcOuXbXo">pic.twitter.com/Q6gcOuXbXo</a>
— United Airlines (@united) <a href="https://twitter.com/united/status/2036505633470431412?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 24, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“The entire row is alllllll yours,” the X caption says. “Welcome to United Relax Row, three adjacent United Economy seats with adjustable leg rests that can each be raised or lowered to create a cozy lie-flat space for stretching out.”
Passengers will also receive a mattress pad, blanket, and two pillows. Families traveling with children will be offered a plush toy. United said the option would be available on more than 200 Boeing 787 and 777 aircraft, with up to 12 designated rows per plane.
According to the airline, the setup is designed to give travelers more flexibility and comfort.
“Whether you’re traveling as a family, solo or as a couple, you’ll have the freedom to stretch out, cozy up and make the journey your own,” United said on its website.
The announcement drew mostly positive reactions online.
“Much needed. United is innovating faster than anyone,” one reply <a href="https://x.com/DrWilliamBrady/status/2036532429846917544">said</a>.
“Good idea. Finally, something new from the airlines,” another commenter <a href="https://x.com/LeviSpires/status/2036519609558262177">replied</a>.
“May this set the standard for more child-friendly travel!” a third <a href="https://x.com/The_Nomad_News/status/2036613595925303521">added</a>.
United has not yet released details on pricing or how the seats will be booked.
This is the second encouraging update from the airline, which made <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/united-airlines-threatens-to-ban-passengers-who-make-this-noisy-faux-pas">headlines</a> recently when it added language to its contract of carriage stating it may refuse to transport passengers who fail to use headphones while listening to audio or video content. 
A spokesperson for United noted that headphone use had long been encouraged.
“We’ve always encouraged customers to use headphones when listening to audio content — and our Wi-Fi rules already remind customers to use headphones,” the spokesperson said. “With the expansion of Starlink, it seemed like a good time to make that even clearer by adding it to the contract of carriage.”
The policy change was widely supported on social media, with many travelers saying it addressed a long-standing frustration and should become standard across the airline industry.

Traveling family

United Airlines Just Changed The Game For Families Traveling With Kids

Air Travel

Airlines

Parenting

United Airlines

Hobby Airport  TSA line

Why Our Disgusting Airports Are Proof Of The Country’s Decline

Why Our Disgusting Airports Are Proof Of The Country's Decline

American Airlines

Matt Walsh

New York City

Opinion

Violence

United Airlines is getting a lot of support from fed-up flyers for its new policy, which would require passengers to use their devices with headphones or risk being permanently banned from the airline. 
The new rule was added to United’s contract of carriage terms under its “refusal to transport” section in late February. At the time, the airline didn’t draw attention to the small tweak, but CBS News <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/united-airlines-remove-passengers-who-dont-wear-headphones/">reported</a> on the change earlier this week. 
United&#8217;s new rules say they may &#8220;refuse transport, on a permanent basis&#8221; any passengers who &#8220;fail to use headphones while listening to audio or video content.” 
The airline had already been encouraging headphone use for passengers. &#8220;Don&#8217;t worry if you forget your headphones for your flight. If they&#8217;re available, you can request free earbuds,&#8221; it says on the official <a href="https://www.united.com/en/us/fly/travel/inflight/inflight-entertainment.html">website</a>.
A spokesperson for United confirmed the change, <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/03/04/lifestyle/united-airlines-updates-contract-of-carriage-rules-to-force-flyers-to-use-headphone-when-using-devices/">per</a> NY Post. “We’ve always encouraged customers to use headphones when listening to audio content — and our Wi-Fi rules already remind customers to use headphones,” the spokesperson said. “With the expansion of Starlink, it seemed like a good time to make that even clearer by adding it to the contract of carriage.”
The policy change was popular among social media users, with many questioning why the practice wasn’t standard across the airline industry.
“If anyone around you can hear any noise coming out of your phone, ever at all, you should be arrested and flogged and then thrown into the Pacific,” Daily Wire podcast host Matt Walsh <a href="https://x.com/mattwalshblog/status/2029542961025822966?s=43">observed</a>.
“The inane world we’re living in where we have to make this a RULE instead of accepting it as common sense and a courtesy to other humans…,” a second person <a href="https://x.com/BroadsideBrief/status/2029555092177727871">agreed</a>.
“I don&#8217;t get it,” a third person chimed in. “Why do people actually feel the need to use speakers? I never did and never will. Don&#8217;t they know how disturbing it is? I see many people using speakers while talking on the phone like they are the only person in this world.”
Travel expert Scott Keyes told CBS News that only a small minority of travelers violate this standard of decorum, but the comments prove that the policy was needed.
&#8220;This is in line with how the vast majority of travelers comport themselves and would like others to comport themselves,&#8221; he told the outlet. &#8220;It&#8217;s usually only a small number of folks on airplanes who are making noise by not using headphones, so this is a graceful way to handle those folks.&#8221;

Airplane headphones

United Airlines Threatens To Ban Passengers Who Make Noisy Faux Pas

Transportation

Delta and United, two of the largest airlines in the United States, announced on Thursday that they are already canceling flights scheduled for this weekend due to the Federal Aviation Administration&#8217;s flight reductions that will go into effect on Friday due to the government shutdown.
Delta said that around 170 flights would be canceled on Friday, mostly affecting regional flights, CNN <a href="https://x.com/petemuntean/status/1986535945806414024">reported</a>.
&#8220;Delta is complying with a directive from the FAA and the U.S. Department of Transportation to reduce flights at 40 major U.S. airports beginning Friday, Nov 7,&#8221; the airline <a href="https://news.delta.com/delta-cares-customers-reduces-flights-beginning-nov-7-compliance-faa-directive">said</a>, adding, &#8220;These flight reductions are in response to air traffic control staffing shortages stemming from the ongoing government shutdown and are intended to maintain safety across the national airspace system.&#8221;
United, meanwhile, is set to cancel 4% of its flights over the weekend, which will add up to just under 200 flights daily, USA Today <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2025/11/06/airports-flights-affected-by-shutdown-cuts-updates/87123116007/">reported</a>. United and Delta aren&#8217;t the only airlines affected by the flight reductions, as over 500 flights from all airlines have already been canceled this weekend, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/government-shutdown-reduced-flights-a082a6817d960101968a923f7dfd8ef0">reported</a>.
The White House&#8217;s Rapid Response X account responded to the news of the flight cancellations, <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1986541630636069298">writing</a>, &#8220;Thank A Democrat.&#8221;
&#8220;@united is now cancelling hundreds of flights originally scheduled for tomorrow due to the Democrat Shutdown,&#8221; the White House added. &#8220;This could&#8217;ve all been avoided if Democrats simply did their jobs. Instead, they chose chaos.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/united?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@united</a> is now cancelling hundreds of flights originally scheduled for tomorrow due to the Democrat Shutdown.
This could&#8217;ve all been avoided if Democrats simply did their jobs. Instead, they chose chaos. <a href="https://t.co/TpJqlXhxJn">pic.twitter.com/TpJqlXhxJn</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1986543455875588597?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The government shutdown entered its 37th day on Thursday, with no sign of a deal on a spending bill coming anytime soon as Democratic senators continue to hold out.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced on Wednesday that the FAA would be slashing air traffic by 10% at 40 of the busiest airports beginning on Friday. The drastic move is to ensure that air travel remains safe as the government faces an air traffic controller shortage. Due to the government shutdown, air traffic controllers have gone weeks without pay, leading some to call in sick and seek work elsewhere.
The reduction in air traffic comes just weeks before the Thanksgiving holiday, which is typically the busiest travel weekend of the year in the United States. Here’s the complete list of airports that are expected to be affected by the flight reduction compiled in alphabetical order:
<ul>
<li>Anchorage International (ANC)</li>
<li>Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (ATL)</li>
<li>Boston Logan International (BOS)</li>
<li>Baltimore/Washington International (BWI)</li>
<li>Charlotte Douglas International (CLT)</li>
<li>Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International (CVG)</li>
<li>Dallas Love (DAL)</li>
<li>Ronald Reagan Washington National (DCA)</li>
<li>Denver International (DEN)</li>
<li>Dallas/Fort Worth International (DFW)</li>
<li>Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County (DTW)</li>
<li>Newark Liberty International (EWR)</li>
<li>Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International (FLL)</li>
<li>Honolulu International (HNL)</li>
<li>Houston Hobby (HOU)</li>
<li>Washington Dulles International (IAD)</li>
<li>George Bush Houston Intercontinental (IAH)</li>
<li>Indianapolis International (IND)</li>
<li>New York John F Kennedy International (JFK)</li>
<li>Las Vegas Harry Reid International (LAS)</li>
<li>Los Angeles International (LAX)</li>
<li>New York LaGuardia (LGA)</li>
<li>Orlando International (MCO)</li>
<li>Chicago Midway (MDW)</li>
<li>Memphis International (MEM)</li>
<li>Miami International (MIA)</li>
<li>Minneapolis/St Paul International (MSP)</li>
<li>Oakland International (OAK)</li>
<li>Ontario International (ONT)</li>
<li>Chicago O&#8217;Hare International (ORD)</li>
<li>Portland International (PDX)</li>
<li>Philadelphia International (PHL)</li>
<li>Phoenix Sky Harbor International (PHX)</li>
<li>San Diego International (SAN)</li>
<li>Louisville International (SDF)</li>
<li>Seattle/Tacoma International (SEA)</li>
<li>San Francisco International (SFO)</li>
<li>Salt Lake City International (SLC)</li>
<li>Teterboro (TEB)</li>
<li>Tampa International (TPA)</li>
</ul>

Flight cancellations

‘Thank A Democrat’: Delta, United Cancel Hundreds Of Weekend Flights Due To Government Shutdown

Canceled flights

Delta Airlines

Government Shutdown

Sean Duffy

A new president might be in the White House, but Washington, D.C., is pushing “Pride” as much as ever this year. 
From parades and marches to dance festivals and drag performances, the nation’s capital has not stepped back from using “Pride Month” to push radical gender ideology. This year in D.C., hundreds of thousands of people took part in a three-week-long celebration called “<a href="https://worldpridedc.org/event/world-pride-family-fun-festival/">WorldPride</a>.” The weeks-long event concluded on Sunday with a march and a video message from former Vice President Kamala Harris, The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/06/08/world-pride-rally-march-national-mall/">reported</a>. 
“Pride is about honoring the trailblazers who came before, joining arms with those leading the fight for equality today and empowering the next generation to live boldly, freely and with joy,” Harris <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/06/08/world-pride-rally-march-national-mall/">said</a>. “In this moment, as you gather with friends and allies from across the world, let us be clear: No one should be made to fight alone. We are all in this together.”
While President Donald Trump and his administration have pushed back on some of the crazy transgender policies that were supported by the Biden administration, the Left continues to stake its identity on allowing men to compete against women and defending the sterilization and mutilation of children. 
The WorldPride event in D.C. was <a href="https://worldpridedc.org/our-advocates/">sponsored</a> by numerous companies and activist groups, including (unsurprisingly) Kaiser Permanente, the medical group that was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/detransitioner-chloe-cole-announces-official-lawsuit-against-kaiser-permanente-for-medical-negligence">sued</a> by detransitioner Chloe Cole claiming medical negligence for allegedly facilitating the chemical and surgical sex change operations on Cole when she was a minor. Another sponsor is Johns Hopkins University, which <a href="https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/center-transgender-health/services-appointments/children-adolescents-and-young-adults#:~:text=Clinical%20services%20are%20available%20for%20children%2C%20adolescents,for%20Transgender%20and%20Gender%20Expansive%20Health%20guidelines.">offers</a> children puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. 
The <a href="https://worldpridedc.org/our-advocates/">list</a> of other sponsors goes on and on: 
<ul>
<li>Amazon </li>
<li>Starbucks</li>
<li>Ikea</li>
<li>JP Morgan Chase</li>
<li>Morgan Stanley</li>
<li>McDonald’s</li>
<li>Corona</li>
<li>Delta</li>
<li>United</li>
<li>Fresca</li>
<li>Hilton</li>
<li>Marriot</li>
<li>Wegmans</li>
<li>Hyatt</li>
<li>Dollar Tree</li>
<li>H&amp;M</li>
<li>Macy’s</li>
<li>Total Wine &amp; More</li>
<li>Astra Zeneca</li>
<li>AARP</li>
</ul>
All of these companies put their public stamp of approval on an event that focused on celebrating the LGBT identity and encouraged parents to bring their children to the “<a href="https://worldpridedc.org/event/world-pride-family-fun-festival/">World Pride Family Fun Festival</a>,” which it said would be “especially enjoyed by children ages 2–10.”
Most Americans are tired of the “Pride Month” shenanigans, but they’re still being shoved down their throats with the endorsements of some of the country’s most popular brands. 
At least there are still some companies that can read the room and aren’t going to push LGBT craziness — companies like <a href="https://www.jeremysrazors.com/">Jeremy’s Razors</a>. 
Check out some of the quality products offered by Jeremy’s Razors, such as the<a href="https://www.jeremysrazors.com/products/precision-5-trial-kit-2?selling_plan=3820880085"> Precision 5 Razor</a>. Feel a little dirty after reading about D.C.’s “Pride” festival? Check out Jeremy’s all-new <a href="https://www.jeremysrazors.com/products/birch-bark-body-soap?_pos=1&amp;_sid=32db4f1d8&amp;_ss=r&amp;variant=51559588462805&amp;selling_plan=4232937685">Birch Bark body soap</a>. 
We’re not even halfway through June. The incessant drumbeat of “Pride Month” still has weeks to drive us crazy. Hopefully, you don’t have to be in a place like D.C. to endure the rest of it.
Jeremy&#8217;s Razors shares common ownership with The Daily Wire.

People celebrating Pride Month and Parade-People marching with the rainbow LGBTQ flag

D.C. Goes All Out For ‘Pride’: These Companies Sponsored The Weeks-Long LGBT Celebration

Amazon

JP Morgan

LGBT

McDonald’s

Pride

Pride Month

Starbucks

Washington D.C.

A body was found in the wheel well of a United Airlines flight that landed in Maui after taking off from Chicago on Christmas Eve.
The body was found when a Boeing 787-10 from United Airlines arrived in Hawaii at 2:12 p.m. local time on Tuesday after taking off from Chicago O’Hare International Airport at 9:31 a.m., The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/25/us/body-found-united-airlines-wheel-well-maui-hawaii.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. United said in a statement that the body was found &#8220;in the wheel well of one of the main landing gears on a United aircraft.&#8221; The Maui Police Department said the person, who has not been identified, was discovered dead.
“The wheel well was only accessible from outside of the aircraft,” United Airlines added, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/25/us/united-airlines-plane-body-found-hawaii/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN</a>. “At this time, it is not clear how or when the person accessed the wheel well.”
The wheel well is a compartment under an aircraft that stores the landing gear and is usually a tight space — often smaller than the trunk of a car. In the past, people attempting to hitch a ride on an airplane have been crushed in the wheel well when the landing gear retracts, CNN reported.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/">50% OFF ALL DAILY WIRE ANNUAL MEMBERSHIPS FOR A LIMITED TIME!</a>
It remains unclear how the person on the United flight to Maui got onto the tarmac and into the wheel well. Dozens of stowaways have attempted to hitch illegal rides on airplanes by climbing into the wheel well, but multiple factors make it nearly impossible for a stowaway to survive a ride in the wheel well. As a plane reaches higher altitudes, oxygen levels drop and stowaways lose consciousness. Temperatures can also reach 75 degrees below zero. Nearly 80% of the roughly 130 people who have attempted to catch a ride on the outside of an airplane since 1947 have died, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/06/us/airplane-stowaways/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Some people have survived the extreme conditions after hitching a ride on an airplane, and one person survived a brutal journey sitting in the wheel well of a plane that took off from the continental U.S. and landed in Hawaii. In 2014, a 15-year-old boy was <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/usanow/2014/04/21/stow-away-flight/7953325/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found alive</a> in the wheel well of a Boeing 767 after a five-hour flight from San Jose to Maui. The FBI said the teen&#8217;s survival was a &#8220;miracle.&#8221;

United Airlines Boeing 787-10 Dreamleaner

Body Found In Wheel Well Of Plane After 9-Hour Flight To Hawaii

Airplane

Chicago

Hawaii

Two United Airlines planes were forced to land late this week over incidents that occurred during their flights.
At least seven passengers on United Airlines Flight 85 from Tel Aviv to Newark were hospitalized for injuries they sustained after the plane hit unexpected turbulence just moments before landing.
The 11-hour flight was cleared to land at Newark International Airport in New Jersey and was only 750 feet above the ground when pilots decided that they were going to abort the landing because they experienced &#8220;wind shear,&#8221; which ABC 7 New York <a href="https://abc7ny.com/united-flight-85-from-tel-aviv-to-newark-diverted-stewart-international-airport-in-orange-county-injuries-reported/14591116/">describes</a> as &#8220;a sudden change in wind direction.&#8221;
The flight was diverted to Stewart International Airport, where emergency crews were standing by the render assistance once the plane landed.
&#8220;Oh, it was really like Six Flags,&#8221; said passenger Roi Gonen. &#8220;My heart just jumped a couple times. I was texting my wife just in case. Two seats behind me I saw a woman vomiting.&#8221;
The injured passengers were taken to Montefiore St. Luke&#8217;s Cornwall, according to New Windsor EMS.
&#8220;We had 320 people on the plane,&#8221; said Michael Bigg of New Windsor EMS. &#8220;We evaluated about 30 people and we transported seven to a local hospital just for observation, no major injuries or ailments but most people want to get checked out at the emergency room.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
UPDATE: 312 passengers onboard Newark-bound United Airlines Boeing 787 from Tel Aviv that diverted to Stewart Airport due to “extreme turbulence,” 7 passengers taken to the hospital with minor injuries and 15 treated on site &#8211; according to New Windsor EMS. (📷 New Windsor EMS) <a href="https://t.co/nnmOMOT6Af">pic.twitter.com/nnmOMOT6Af</a>
&mdash; Blaise Gomez (@BlaiseGomez12) <a href="https://twitter.com/BlaiseGomez12/status/1773862514389917719?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 29, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
A separate United Airlines Boeing 777-200 flight from San Francisco to Paris was forced to land at Denver International Airport on Thursday night after suffering engine problems with one of the plane&#8217;s two engines.
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1711847459151000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3OccKYAVbZP-9J-sgruazM">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
United Airlines has faced numerous negative headlines this month over incidents that have occurred during flights, including a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-tire-falls-off-united-boeing-flight-during-takeoff-damages-multiple-cars">tire falling off</a> of a plane and crushing cars in a parking lot, a plane <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/united-airlines-boeing-737-loses-external-panel-mid-air">losing</a> an external panel while it was in the air, a plane <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/united-airlines-boeing-737-goes-off-runway-in-houston">sliding</a> off the runway, a plane <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/united-plane-makes-emergency-landing-in-la-in-airlines-4th-emergency-this-week">forced</a> to make an emergency landing after suffering a hydraulic failure, and more.

American airline United Airlines logo is seen on an Android

United Airlines Passengers Hospitalized After Flight Incident; Another United Flight Forced To Land With Engine Trouble

Air and Space

U.S.

A United Airlines <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/boeing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Boeing</a> 737 lost an external panel while it was in the air between San Francisco and Oregon on Friday with the airline crew only discovering the part was missing after the plane landed.
The Boeing 737-800 — which departed around 10:40 a.m. as United Airlines flight 433 carrying 139 passengers and six crew members — landed safely over an hour later at Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport, the New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/03/15/us-news/boeing-737-loses-external-panel-mid-flight/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Airport Director Amber Judd told the outlet that after one of the plane&#8217;s external panels was found to be missing, the airport&#8217;s operations were temporarily halted as it conducted a safety check on the runway.
“After finding no debris on the airfield, normal operations at MFR resumed a few minutes later,” Judd said.
While in flight, there was no indication that the plane had any problem or emergency, the airline said. The plane, which is 25 years old, will undergo a &#8220;thorough examination,” according to United, which added that it will “perform all the needed repairs before it returns to service&#8221; and &#8220;conduct an investigation to better understand how this damage occurred.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
🚨<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Breaking?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Breaking</a>: United Airlines Boeing 737 loses panel mid-flight after takeoff from San Francisco, diverts to Oregon airport. Plane lands safely, no injuries reported.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Boeing?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Boeing</a> <a href="https://t.co/MgmnLaUn5v">pic.twitter.com/MgmnLaUn5v</a>
&mdash; World News Global (@WorldNewsGb) <a href="https://twitter.com/WorldNewsGb/status/1768788485207679346?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 15, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Federal Aviation Administration also said it will investigate the incident.
The latest mid-air incident comes amid a string of mishaps involving Boeing aircraft. Last week, a tire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-tire-falls-off-united-boeing-flight-during-takeoff-damages-multiple-cars" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fell off</a> a United Airlines Boeing 777-200 as it was taking off. The tire damaged multiple cars in a parking lot, but no one was injured.
https://twitter.com/gregg_re/status/1765860893710057532?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1765860893710057532%7Ctwgr%5E23862a66dcf85e369334ec1a28940fcca6d2a288%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&#038;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailywire.com%2Fnews%2Fwatch-tire-falls-off-united-boeing-flight-during-takeoff-damages-multiple-cars
Days earlier, a United flight from Houston to Fort Myers, Florida, was forced to turn around after one of its engines burst into flames.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The FAA is investigating a mechanical issue on a United Airlines flight that caused flames to shoot from the rear of an engine minutes after takeoff on Monday. <a href="https://t.co/jrwnIglEGT">https://t.co/jrwnIglEGT</a> <a href="https://t.co/8VoCBoDHfk">pic.twitter.com/8VoCBoDHfk</a>
&mdash; ABC News (@ABC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1765841535088590890?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 7, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In January, a door plug fell off of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max minutes after it had taken off from Portland, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/boeing-refusing-to-hand-over-records-on-alaska-airlines-plane-that-lost-chunk-of-its-wall-mid-air-gov-official-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">testified</a> before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation last week, saying that Boeing was refusing to tell investigators the names of people on a 25-member team that worked on a door plug that came off the Alaska Airlines plane.
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1700760801843000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2PQrVSrJfhxNb4LcARqniG">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
“Boeing has not provided us with the documents and information that we have requested numerous times over the past few months, specifically with respect to opening, closing, and removal of the door,” the NTSB chair said.
“It’s absurd that two months later we don’t have that,” she added. “Without that information, that raises concerns about quality assurance, quality management, [and] safety management systems.”
Boeing <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/boeing-documents-ntsb-alaska-door-plug-probe/story?id=107846602" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> ABC News that it has “worked proactively and transparently” to support the NTSB investigation.
“Early in the investigation, we provided the NTSB with names of Boeing employees, including door specialists, who we believed would have relevant information,” Boeing said. “We have now provided the full list of individuals on the 737 door team, in response to a recent request. With respect to documentation, if the door plug removal was undocumented there would be no documentation to share.”

Los Angeles Exteriors And Landmarks – 2022

United Airlines Boeing 737 Loses External Panel Mid-Air

Boeing

General

United Airlines experienced two flight emergencies over the weekend, the fourth and fifth that the airline has faced in just a week.
On Saturday, a United Airlines flight was forced to return to Chicago O’Hare International Airport after the plane&#8217;s oil warning system lit up. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it was launching an investigation into the incident with the Airbus A320.
On Friday, a United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Mexico City made an emergency landing in Los Angeles after the plane experienced a problem with its hydraulic system. The FAA said it would investigate the incident, which also involved an Airbus A320.
The two incidents come after United Airlines experienced three more incidents last week involving Boeing aircraft.
The third incident, which <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/united-airlines-boeing-737-goes-off-runway-in-houston">unfolded</a> on Friday, involved a United flight sliding off the runway after it experienced a left main landing gear collapse after trying to taxi off runway 27 at IAH airport in Houston, Texas.
On Thursday, a tire fell off a United Airlines flight headed to Japan, crushing several cars in a parking lot below.
https://twitter.com/gregg_re/status/1765860893710057532
https://twitter.com/gregg_re/status/1765863297037807749
Last Monday, a United Airlines flight that took off from Houston to Fort Myers was forced to turn around after flames shot out from an engine.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The FAA is investigating a mechanical issue on a United Airlines flight that caused flames to shoot from the rear of an engine minutes after takeoff on Monday. <a href="https://t.co/jrwnIglEGT">https://t.co/jrwnIglEGT</a> <a href="https://t.co/8VoCBoDHfk">pic.twitter.com/8VoCBoDHfk</a>
&mdash; ABC News (@ABC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1765841535088590890?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 7, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
United Airlines said in a statement, &#8220;Each of these events is distinct and unrelated to one another.”
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1700760801843000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2PQrVSrJfhxNb4LcARqniG">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
“We take every safety event seriously and will investigate each of the incidents that occurred this week to understand what happened and learn from them,” United said. “Much of this work is conducted together with the manufacturers, the FAA, and the NTSB as well as with the manufacturers of individual components … Safety is our top priority, and we’ll continue to do everything we can to keep our customers and employees safe.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/united-airlines-flight-plummets-28000-feet-after-leaving-new-jersey-for-rome-forced-to-return">United Airlines Flight Plummets 28,000 Feet After Leaving New Jersey For Rome, Forced To Return</a>

United Airlines Boeing 767-400 ER

United Airlines Experiences Another Flight Emergency

Air &amp; Space

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/united-airlines" target="_blank" rel="noopener">United Airlines</a> plane flying to Mexico had to make an emergency landing in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/los-angeles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Los Angeles</a> on Friday due to a “hydraulic failure.”
The plane, an Airbus A320 carrying around 110 people, was flying from San Francisco to Mexico City when it made an emergency stop at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday afternoon after a &#8220;complete hydraulic failure” was <a href="https://abc7.com/united-flight-makes-emergency-landing-at-los-angeles-international-airport-after-reports-of-suspected-hydraulics-failure/14505488/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. The emergency landing took place at around 4:30 p.m. local time. 
&#8220;The flight landed safely and passengers were deplaned normally at the gate,&#8221; United said, noting that passengers would be transferred to a different plane to complete their trip. 
United said that it appeared that one of the hydraulic systems was down. “This aircraft type has three hydraulic systems for redundancy purposes. Preliminary information shows there was only an issue with one system on this aircraft,” the airline said. 
The Federal Aviation Administration announced that it will be investigating the incident which comes as United has faced a series of airplane related mishaps this week.  
Earlier on Friday, a United Airlines Boeing 737 <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/united-airlines-boeing-737-goes-off-runway-in-houston" target="_blank" rel="noopener">went off</a> the runway and got stuck in the grass at the George W. Bush Airport in Houston, Texas. The 160 people on board all had to be evacuated from the craft. 
A day before, on Thursday, a United Airlines plane <a href="https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/san-francisco/united-plane-loses-tire-takeoff-san-francisco-international-airport/3475104/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">taking off</a> from San Francisco International Airport lost a tire, which <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-tire-falls-off-united-boeing-flight-during-takeoff-damages-multiple-cars" target="_blank" rel="noopener">plunged to the ground</a> and damaged vehicles in a parking lot. The plane, bound for Japan, was diverted to Los Angeles.
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1710096758317000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3iaq6q-Qs351snTwJA_ODg">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
Finally, on Monday a United Airlines flight that took off from Houston to Fort Myers was forced to turn around after one of its engines erupted in flames. United Flight 1118 was in the air less than 15 minutes before it had to turn around, according to data from FlightAware.
“United flight 1118 returned to Houston shortly after takeoff due to an engine issue,” the airline said in a statement. “The flight landed safely, and the passengers deplaned normally. We arranged for a new aircraft to take our customers to their destination, which departed for Fort Myers later that evening.”
The incidents come as conservatives have raised concerns about the integration of diversity, equity, and inclusion into the airline industry at the cost of competency.

United Airlines plane at Denver International Airport

United Plane Makes Emergency Landing In LA In Airline’s 4th Emergency This Week

Los Angeles

Mexico

San Francisco

If you&#8217;ve followed my show regularly over the past few months, you know that I&#8217;ve done a couple of monologues on the aviation industry. 
The frequency of near-disasters in the sky has increased dramatically in recent years, and as I&#8217;ve noted, the increase began around the time that the Obama administration began a concerted effort to &#8220;diversify&#8221; the FAA, including air traffic control. According to a NASA database, which tracks self-reported data from pilots, we now <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-government-diversity-initiatives-are-leading-us-to-a-major-airline-disaster">average</a> roughly five near-misses per week — more than double the number from a decade ago. And that&#8217;s not even getting into the obvious maintenance issues that have been popping up — including doors and wheels that have been flying off planes lately.
Given how terrible all of this looks from the outside, I wanted to get a better idea of what&#8217;s happening internally at the FAA and major airlines in this country. We hear a lot about DEI in the abstract sense, but we rarely get a glimpse of what it looks like in practice. We don&#8217;t often hear firsthand testimonials from people affected by DEI because they&#8217;re worried about protecting their careers. They know if they speak out, they&#8217;ll face termination, and they&#8217;ll probably be blackballed from the industry forever. But with social media, some level of anonymity is possible. So to take a closer look at how far this DEI rot has spread, I <a href="https://x.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1744869138151924174?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a>: &#8220;If you&#8217;re an airline pilot and have firsthand knowledge about the DEI agenda being forced into your profession, send me a DM and tell me about your experiences. Curious yet terrified to see how bad it is at this point.&#8221;
To say my inbox was completely flooded would be an understatement. I received too many DM&#8217;s to count from pilots and other professionals in the aviation industry. Virtually every single message told me the same thing: that the ideology of &#8220;diversity, equity, and inclusion&#8221; is the top priority in their workplaces. It goes without saying, but this is an industry where one mistake can kill hundreds or even thousands of people. This is not comparable to DEI departments in universities or corporate America, as destructive and as wasteful as those departments are. DEI in the aviation industry could lead to a catastrophic disaster. That&#8217;s why — even though it was a risk — several of these sources provided me identifying information to validate their identities, along with permission to post some of the internal documents and footage they&#8217;ve obtained. These people knew they might lose their jobs, but they decided that getting the word out was more important.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1311-i-ve-obtained-internal-footage-revealing-the-faa-s-plans-to-reduce-the-number-of-white-males-in-aviation-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h4>
Yesterday, I posted some of these materials on my Twitter feed. They reveal that, at the very highest levels of the FAA, there&#8217;s an effort underway to reduce the number of white men who work in the aviation industry. In April of 2022, the FAA&#8217;s acting deputy chief operating officer — a woman named Angela McCullough — led a meeting with the FAA&#8217;s Flight Operations division. This division is responsible for all aspects of aviation operations, including overseeing airline maintenance. 
But McCullough did not spend the call talking about ways to make sure that airplane doors don&#8217;t fly off mid-flight. She didn&#8217;t say a word about the importance of keeping the wheels attached to jetliners as they&#8217;re taking off. Instead, McCullough talked extensively about DEI. As you&#8217;ll see, she was prompted to do so by a man named Wil Riggins, who&#8217;s the FAA&#8217;s Vice President of Flight Program Operations. 
If that name sounds familiar at all, it&#8217;s probably because Riggins is the same guy who <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/09/15/faa-dot-coordinated-to-hide-cost-of-buttigiegs-flights-report/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">conspired</a> to find ways to hide Pete Buttigieg&#8217;s spending on government aircraft. So this is a completely corrupt group of bureaucrats who have assembled here. Watch:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
2/ The footage begins with FAA acting deputy chief operating officer Angela McCullough saying more workers need to go from &quot;ramp to cockpit,&quot; meaning she wants to see more baggage handlers become airline pilots. <a href="https://t.co/2KAeHNcJA2">pic.twitter.com/2KAeHNcJA2</a>
&mdash; Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1755319180306346029?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;We&#8217;re looking at a need across the agency to recruit and retain a diverse population of folks,&#8221; says Wil Riggins. In response, McCullough talks about the arms race of DEI that&#8217;s occurring in the industry. She mentions &#8220;partnerships with universities.&#8221; And then she says the FAA wants to look at something called &#8220;ramp to cockpit.&#8221;
Let&#8217;s think about this. When she&#8217;s talking about &#8220;partnerships with universities&#8221; in the name of diversifying aviation, McCullough is referring to relationships that airlines have established with historically black colleges and universities. For example, United Airlines has <a href="https://www.northcarolina.edu/news/elizabeth-city-state-university-united-airlines-launch-partnership/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">allied</a> with Elizabeth City State University. The airline describes this as, &#8220;a partnership that seeks to not only train future pilots, but also bring more women and people of color into the ranks of commercial aviation.&#8221;
In case it&#8217;s not obvious, Elizabeth City State University is not a hotbed of engineering or aviation talent. In fact it&#8217;s not a hotbed of any kind of skill whatsoever. The average SAT score at the school is 960 out of 1600, which is one of the lowest scores that you&#8217;ll find anywhere in the country. The only reason for partnerships like this is because of the racial makeup of Elizabeth City State University, which is overwhelmingly black. This is the kind of partnership that, based on this video, senior FAA officials want to see more of. 
They aren&#8217;t interested in seeing the best pilots in the cockpit. They&#8217;re interested in seeing more black pilots in the cockpit.
That also could explain why McCullough is promoting something called &#8220;ramp to cockpit&#8221; in that footage. When she says &#8220;ramp,&#8221; she&#8217;s referring to ramp agents, who are responsible for loading and unloading baggage on airplanes. Evidently, the FAA believes that these employees deserve some sort of specialized program to encourage them to become pilots. But nowhere in this footage does McCullough explain why this makes any sense whatsoever. It doesn&#8217;t follow in any way. The job of a baggage handler is completely different from the job of an airline pilot. There are precisely zero transferable skills or even interests. Just because you have a job working around a plane doesn’t mean you should be flying them. This is like having a “janitor to surgeon” pipeline at a hospital, or setting up a program so that the window washer cleaning the outside of the skyscraper can one day become an architect designing skyscrapers. These two lines of work have almost nothing to do with each other. So what’s the point of this?
A few seconds later, McCullough provides something of an answer. She tells the FAA&#8217;s senior leadership in Flight Operations that their whole division is &#8220;white-male dominated.&#8221; Then she says that should change. And Wil Riggins, rather than reacting with surprise to this suggestion, agrees with her. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="008 FAA COO Angela McCullough" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/m9MmG1zYRg0?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
There&#8217;s no pushback from anyone in that clip, as they listen to this. No one says, &#8220;wait a minute — why should baggage handlers become pilots? And what&#8217;s wrong with having a lot of white men in Flight Operations, exactly?&#8221; Instead, this woman gets complimented for her insights.
But of course, not everyone on the call was in agreement. They didn&#8217;t want to speak up because they&#8217;d be fired. But they knew this was going to happen. So one individual recorded the meeting. This source had seen several white men get passed over for jobs because of their skin color, and he or she heard these kinds of remarks all the time at the FAA. That&#8217;s why the source saved it, and it&#8217;s why we have it now.
As of this morning, neither the FAA nor the secretary of transportation, Mayor Pete, has responded to this footage. That&#8217;s because it reflects exactly what they believe. This is what they talk about behind closed doors. They want fewer white people flying planes and working in Flight Operations, including maintenance. They want more baggage handlers to become pilots. And they are not remotely concerned about professional standards or competence. That topic just doesn&#8217;t come up in their discussions.
This what DEI is all about, and it&#8217;s not limited to Pete Buttigieg&#8217;s agency. In response to my post, I received several other tips from sources outside of the FAA who say they&#8217;re seeing similar policies all across the aviation industry. Airlines are promoting DEI as well, even when it clearly endangers passengers. One source — a pilot at Delta Airlines — told me this: &#8220;We recently had a transgender pilot repeatedly receive negative reviews during his first-year probationary period from Captains he flew with regarding attitude, CRM, and judgment, yet the Chief Pilot’s Office (CPO) was unwilling to address the issue. Had this not been a transgender pilot, the individual would likely not have successfully completed their probationary period. Coincidentally, that CPO has a management pilot on staff who recently transitioned who is able to weigh in on these matters.&#8221;
This is what the airlines and the FAA will never admit publicly. They&#8217;ll never admit that they&#8217;re lowering standards, and endangering the public, in order to get more &#8220;diverse&#8221; pilots flying planes. But that&#8217;s exactly what&#8217;s happening. The source also sent along this internal Delta Airlines manual that&#8217;s designed to help Delta pilots &#8220;transition&#8221; into another gender. Here&#8217;s what that looks like:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
7/ The source also notes that Delta routinely makes exceptions for trans-identifying pilots concerning grooming and behavioral standards. Internally, Delta has even published a lengthy guide for pilots who believe they were born in the wrong body. <a href="https://t.co/8aQszhqVJw">pic.twitter.com/8aQszhqVJw</a>
&mdash; Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1755319191123439760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
It reads, &#8220;Helpful Steps for Transitioning at Delta.&#8221; And of course there&#8217;s the pilot with the trans pride flag draped over his body.
It goes without saying that this is incredibly irresponsible for several reasons. Put aside the fact that Delta is discriminating against qualified pilots on the basis of their skin color and gender, and promoting incompetent pilots instead. This document shows that Delta is also going out of their way to recruit trans-identifying pilots — people with extremely high rates of mental illness, and a propensity for suicide. Remember, these are people who, according to the trans activists themselves, are at risk to kill themselves if they’re misgendered or if they don’t receive all of the “affirmation” they feel they need. And the FAA and Delta want to more of them flying commercial aircraft.
In fact, in private, they&#8217;re open about the fact that they&#8217;re willing to endanger the public in order to hit diversity goals. Recently on Twitter, someone named Trace Woodgrains has been looking closely at FAA documents that were unearthed in a long-running class action lawsuit filed against the agency back during the Obama years. And he found further proof that the agency does not care if &#8220;diversity&#8221; costs people their lives. They&#8217;ve put it in writing. In 2013, for example, FAA leaders reviewed this slide:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Interesting questions being posed by the FAA in 2013 <a href="https://t.co/tnit9ipsRx">pic.twitter.com/tnit9ipsRx</a>
&mdash; TracingWoodgrains (@tracewoodgrains) <a href="https://twitter.com/tracewoodgrains/status/1752378790846796038?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
It reads: &#8220;Key questions for leadership: What are the relative values of diversity and the prediction of performance/outcomes? There is a trade-off between diversity (adverse impact) and predicted job performance/outcomes. How much of a change in job performance is acceptable to achieve diversity goals?&#8221;
So there it is, as clear as it could possibly be. The answer to that question should be: No trade-off in job performance is acceptable to achieve any diversity goals. The mission of the FAA is to make sure people don&#8217;t die on airplanes. But increasingly it&#8217;s clear that&#8217;s not important to the FAA. I didn&#8217;t mention this on Twitter, but one of the sources who DM&#8217;d me sent this information over: &#8220;I was unaware of this until recently, but the FAA has authorized special issuance medical certificates to individuals on SSRIs &#8230; The FAA and the [airline pilots association] are looking to broaden/expand the SSRI and mental health on-ramps back to being able to exercise a first class medical certificate.&#8221;
In other words, the agency is doing everything it can to ensure that pilots taking antidepressants can fly. At the same time, the source says: &#8220;The FAA just sent a letter requesting Congress NOT to raise the mandatory retirement age from the current age of 65, and the FAA primarily states safety as a justification. Obviously, there’s zero safety data that shows a switch is flipped when you turn 65 and you are somehow instantly less competent; we all know competent 70 year olds and incompetent 50 year olds running around. &#8230;The point is that the FAA and [the pilot&#8217;s association] are much more willing to go along with the idea that SSRIs and transitioning pilots being at the controls is somehow more safe than someone who just woke up on their 65th birthday.&#8221;
<h4><a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP</a></h4>
These are the kind of incoherent medical standards we&#8217;ve come to expect in the FAA. A year ago, for example, the FAA abruptly lowered its medical certification guidelines for pilots with heart block. This is a serious condition; it makes it harder for the heart to pump blood effectively. Before the change, pilots with first-degree block had to provide medical documentation proving they had, “no evidence of structural function or coronary heart disease.&#8221; Now, many pilots with first-degree heart block can fly without this documentation. There was a lot of speculation this was due to complications of the COVID shot, or that this might implicate the safety of passengers. The FAA denied that, but of course we have no reason to believe anything they say anymore. This is what we can expect from the federal government at this point. Even on matters of life-or-death, they have absolutely no credibility.
There are some more documents I posted on Twitter along these lines, including some insider information on how the FAA awards contracts to various small businesses. These small businesses handle important engineering and logistics tasks for the agency. But it turns out that these contracts, like everything else these days, often prioritize &#8220;socially disadvantaged&#8221; businesses, which according to federal regulations, typically means businesses that aren&#8217;t owned by white people. In the FAA&#8217;s &#8220;eFast&#8221; contract system, these &#8220;disadvantaged&#8221; businesses get first dibs at contracts valued under $150,000.
What this means is that the FAA has adopted a gender and race-based spoils system for pretty much everything. At every step — whether you&#8217;re a baggage handler, a pilot, or a contractor — you will get priority treatment if you look a certain way. The only way to bring an end to this is for more whistleblowers to do what they did yesterday, and speak out about it. Record the meetings where they tell you they don&#8217;t want white people working for them. Save the documents showing they&#8217;re promoting incompetent pilots because they&#8217;re &#8220;trans.&#8221; If we expose enough of this, then it might finally collapse under the weight of its absurdity. If we don&#8217;t — if we allow it to fester, as everyone on that FAA videoconference did — then before long, people will die as a result.

Cockpit of a modern passenger aircraft. Pilots at work.

I’ve Obtained Internal Footage Revealing The FAA’s Plans To Reduce The Number Of White Males In Aviation 

I've Obtained Internal Footage Revealing The FAA's Plans To Reduce The Number Of White Males In Aviation 

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

Flights

Racism

Readers Pass

Transgender

In December of 2022, a Boeing 777 operated by United Airlines took off from Hawaii in heavy rain. About a minute into the flight, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/screams-on-the-plane-united-flight-was-5-to-5-2-seconds-from-hitting-pacific-ocean-passenger-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the aircraft plummeted</a> towards the ocean. It came just 750 feet from hitting the water at high-speed, which almost certainly would have killed all 280 people on board. In the end, the pilots saved the aircraft by a matter of seconds.
For more than two months, no one heard about this incident. It was as if it had never happened. By the time mainstream news reports began appearing in February, more than two months later, United assured the public that the FAA had been notified and that an investigation would be forthcoming. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="United Airlines flight plunges thousands of feet towards the ocean after takeoff" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AKFFWtZ0xw4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Notice how there&#8217;s not much curiosity from the anchor about why this incident took so long for the airline to disclose to the public. There&#8217;s also not much of an explanation about what happened. It&#8217;s implied that the pilots may have made a mistake, because they&#8217;re getting more &#8220;training.&#8221; But what mistake did they make exactly?
Late last year, we got something of an official answer. It turns out that, according to the NTSB, the captain called for the flaps to be retracted to the 5 degree setting, which is a normal setting for takeoff. But the first officer thought the captain had called for a 15 degree setting, so he selected that one. That misunderstanding caused a major problem because the plane was going far too fast for that flap setting.
To avoid damaging the plane, the captain started to slow the aircraft while he tried to diagnose the problem. Instead of realizing his mistake, the first officer suggested that maybe the instruments were malfunctioning. The two pilots continued to troubleshoot the problem, and in the process they became disoriented as the plane quickly lost altitude. The pilots&#8217; confusion continued until the plane blared an alarm telling them they were about to die if they didn&#8217;t apply maximum power and pull up.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/240110me" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h4>
Incredibly, both pilots of that flight are still employed by United Airlines. They nearly killed everyone on board through their incompetence, but that&#8217;s not disqualifying apparently. Beyond some basic information about their flying experience, we still don&#8217;t know much about these two pilots. For example, we know that the first officer has a total of 5,300 hours of flying experience, which is respectable for his position. But at the time of the incident, he only had 120 hours in the Boeing 777. And according to a report by Tucker Carlson last year, which cited an anonymous source at United shortly after this near-catastrophe took place, this first officer was a &#8220;new hire&#8221; at the airline. Could that lack of experience have played a role? And more to the point, could either of the pilot&#8217;s identity have played a role in their hiring — or the airline&#8217;s refusal to terminate them after they almost steered a passenger jet into the ocean?
We don&#8217;t know. We&#8217;re not allowed to know because the federal government and the airline don&#8217;t want us to know any more information about the identity of these pilots, or any of their pilots who are involved in near-disasters. There is an ongoing information blackout about these kinds of events, and it&#8217;s deliberate. But in their various public statements and press releases, United Airlines has made it very clear that they&#8217;re mainly interested in hiring pilots on the basis of skin color and gender, rather than competence. In fact, they participated in a Vice documentary back in 2022 about their DEI initiatives. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Airlines Hope Diversity Will Solve the Pilot Shortage" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ou1yiHoWfWM?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
So a couple of years ago, United decided that 50% of its new pilot recruits are going to be women or people of color. They&#8217;re promoting flight attendants to make that happen. Later on in that Vice documentary, it&#8217;s suggested that the point of this initiative is to alleviate the pilot shortage. 
How&#8217;s that going? A few days ago, the conservative commentator Ashley St. Clair posed a few questions to United, based on some information she had received. Here&#8217;s what she wrote: &#8220;On July 29, a United plane was nearly totaled after a hard landing. Who was flying that aircraft? Was the co-pilot a former flight attendant who was FIRED and then rehired through United’s DEI program despite being on a list to not return to United? Am I correct that this individual failed multiple trainings including simulator training? Am I also correct that United has covered up this DEI disaster and many others?&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Hey <a href="https://twitter.com/united?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@united</a> 
On July 29, a United plane was nearly totaled after a hard landing
Who was flying that aircraft? 
Was the co-pilot a former flight attendant who was FIRED and then rehired through United’s DEI program despite being on a list to not return to United?
Am I correct…
&mdash; Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley) <a href="https://twitter.com/stclairashley/status/1743346866186514878?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
United didn&#8217;t reply, which you may have noticed is something of a pattern. No one thinks we deserve to know anything about what&#8217;s going on in the cockpits of the planes that we&#8217;re flying in. You&#8217;re just supposed to assume everything&#8217;s fine, and that the flight attendants are transforming into master pilots at United&#8217;s training academy.
But the more you look into the specifics of United&#8217;s diversity initiatives, the less solid that assumption seems to be. It turns out that United partners with several historically black colleges and universities, or HBCUs, as a way of recruiting pilots. One of the popular <a href="https://twitter.com/eyeslasho?lang=en">statistics-focused</a> accounts on X, which uses the name i/o, noticed that two of the schools that United has decided to team up with — Delaware State and Elizabeth City State University — are, &#8220;in the bottom 2% of all undergraduate institutions in the United States.&#8221; Elizabeth State, the account noted, &#8220;had the distinction in the 1980s of being the only university in which the average SAT math score was lower than that score which would have been produced if a person had guessed &#8216;B&#8217; on all the multiple choice questions on the test.&#8221;
That&#8217;s a pretty sobering statistic, especially if you plan on flying United anytime soon. To be fair to United, they don&#8217;t just recruit from HBCUs with no standards. As a writer who goes by the pseudonym Peachy Keenan found, United also recruits from an organization called &#8220;Sisters of the Skies.&#8221; Yes, this is an organization that sends pilots to United Airlines, and their acronym is literally &#8220;S.O.S.&#8221; At least you can rest assured that they have a sense of humor at United, as your plane is plummeting to the ground. And it gets better. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="‘Sisters of the Skies’ aiming to inspire more Black women to become pilots" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/liOyAxRAl9Q?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
&#8220;If they see it, they can be it,&#8221; at least as long as their parents can pay for flight school. That&#8217;s the message. Again, this is an organization that&#8217;s training the pilots that are flying commercial aircraft. This isn&#8217;t training, really. It&#8217;s like a kindergarten classroom. At no point are these people concerned about safety or competence. They want to put black women in the cockpit because they want to inspire more black women, and that makes them feel good — not because they think they&#8217;re getting smarter or better pilots. 
This is not some P.R. stunt. United is actually following through with this. According to United&#8217;s latest corporate diversity report, of the 51 students that graduated from United&#8217;s first class of pilots, &#8220;nearly 80 percent were women or people of color.&#8221; So they vastly exceeded their target of 50%. They&#8217;ve almost completely eliminated white men in their training classes. We&#8217;re led to believe that this is progress. Pay no attention to the planes plummeting towards the ocean or smashing into the runway.
To be clear, this is a problem that extends far beyond United Airlines. They&#8217;re maybe the most vocal about their DEI practices, but every airline does this.
A few years ago, in February of 2019, an Amazon Air cargo plane — a Boeing 767 operated by a contractor called Atlas Air — plummeted into Trinity Bay near Houston. The reason for that crash? The first officer, Conrad Aska, accidentally pressed a button giving the plane a massive jolt in thrust, which pitched the nose up. Instead of reacting calmly to the situation, he panicked, and forced the control column all the way down. The plane broke through the clouds and disintegrated on impact with the water.
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP</a>
Conrad Aska never should have been flying that plane. Prior to joining Atlas Air and Amazon, he had worked for seven different airlines, where he developed a reputation for pressing random buttons in emergencies. He would always panic in the simulator and just lose all situational awareness. But airlines kept putting him in the cockpit anyway. That&#8217;s why, in its final report on the crash, the N.T.S.B. cited, &#8220;systemic deficiencies in the aviation industry&#8217;s selection and performance measurement practices, which failed to address the first officer&#8217;s aptitude-related deficiencies and maladaptive stress response.&#8221;
What explains those &#8220;systemic deficiencies&#8221;? Well, we can&#8217;t say for sure. We do know that Conrad Aska was born in the Caribbean nation of Antigua. He was a black man, which certainly checks some diversity boxes. And we also know that Atlas Air&#8217;s website is full of platitudes about the importance of hiring candidates based on certain characteristics, like their race and gender. So, we can come to some unauthorized theories here about why Conrad Aska was flying that plane. None of them are encouraging.
This isn&#8217;t to single out United or Amazon or Atlas. This kind of diversity hiring is endemic in the aviation industry. Keenan says she&#8217;s received several messages from pilots warning her of the danger in recent days. Here&#8217;s one of them: &#8220;Every airline has an informal pilot assignment program that makes sure their unfireable DEI problem children are always paired with adult supervision. These programs are maintained by aging boomers who are immune to the kool-aid. As these guys retire &#8230; every flight will be a roll of the dice.&#8221;
This rampant DEI mandate doesn&#8217;t just extend to airlines. A few weeks ago on this show, when I predicted that we&#8217;re due for a major air disaster soon, I talked mainly about DEI-based hiring in air traffic control. There&#8217;s also a push to &#8220;diversify&#8221; the ranks of companies that manufacture and install various airline parts. That includes companies like Spirit AeroSystems (no relation to Spirit Airlines), which manufactured that door that blew out on the Alaska Airlines flight over Portland the other day. Like United and Atlas Air, Spirit AeroSystems&#8217; website is full of DEI propaganda. In fact, just days before the door blew out on the plane, Spirit executives were posting eagerly on LinkedIn about their next big diversity event.
Meanwhile the company knew that they had more serious problems. Shortly before their door fell off a passenger plane mid-flight, Spirit AeroSystems was hit with a class action lawsuit in federal court. In the lawsuit, investors alleged that Spirit was aware of systemic defects in its products, but ignored them and falsified documents to hide them. In one instance, the lawsuit alleges, &#8220;auditors repeatedly found torque wrenches in mechanics’ toolboxes that were not properly calibrated. This was potentially a serious problem, as a torque wrench that is out of calibration may not torque fasteners to the correct levels, resulting in over-tightening or under-tightening that could threaten the structural integrity of the parts in question.&#8221;
But the mechanics didn&#8217;t want to comply with the audit. According to the lawsuit, &#8220;Some mechanics would not even let auditors take such out-of-calibration tools, locking toolboxes or yanking them back out of the auditors’ hands to prevent the audit.&#8221;
Obviously, if these accusations are even remotely true, they reveal some very concerning problems at a company that makes critical components for passenger planes. So how did things get so bad? It turns out that, according to the lawsuit, <a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/wichita/news/2020/07/31/spirit-aerosystems-announces-more-wichita-layoffs.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Spirit fired</a> roughly 50% of its workforce in response to the COVID lockdowns. They terminated many &#8220;experienced mechanics&#8221; in response to the economic consequences of those shutdowns, according to the suit. How did Spirit decide who to retain after these completely unnecessary lockdowns? How did they decide who to hire after the lockdowns ended? Why did they keep the engineers who apparently don&#8217;t understand how to calibrate their torque wrenches?
If you take Spirit AeroSystems at its word, they probably hired a bunch of &#8220;diverse&#8221; mechanics. That&#8217;s what all of their marketing materials and investor pitches would dictate. But the truth is, at this point, we can&#8217;t be more specific than that. Is it possible that a crack team of mechanics manufactured the doors on all these United and Alaska Air planes? As of now, yes it is. Maybe the fault lies not with Spirit, but with Boeing, which has been in decline ever since it made the decision to to outsource key elements of its business to overseas programmers and penny-pinchers in Chicago. Maybe Boeing installed the door improperly.
But at a certain point, we&#8217;re entitled to some answers. We shouldn&#8217;t have to guess or speculate about this. We should know the qualifications and the identities of the people manufacturing and installing these airplane doors, just like we should know the qualifications and identities of the United pilots who are skimming the water with Boeing passenger jets. We shouldn&#8217;t have any doubts about their competence. We&#8217;re the ones who just funded the bailouts for all of these companies. We&#8217;re the ones risking our lives to board their planes.
And, yes, the situation is that dire. Last night I put out a general invitation to commercial airline pilots to message me — anonymously, if they prefer — to tell me their firsthand experience of how DEI is impacting their profession. I’m still going through all of the messages — I received a lot of them — but what I can tell you is that, as I sit here today, I am not at all eager to ever board a plane again. The airline industry is in the process of actively making itself less competent and reliable. To an incredibly dangerous extent. When it comes to the pilots, the old guard — the masters of their profession, who were hired and promoted based on their skill alone — are still mostly in control. But not for long.
Meanwhile the airline industry is hiding the truth and lying about the dangers that we face. Like the COVID cultists who wrecked the economy, the DEI cultists desperately don&#8217;t want you thinking about the downstream effects of their ideology. And as a result, every time an airplane takes off in this country, we&#8217;re getting closer and closer to discovering those downstream effects the hard way.

Travelers At Newark Liberty International Airport

The DEI Rot In The Airline Industry Is Way Worse Than You Think

Menu