The Matt Walsh Show - Ep. 1835 - Pilots Saw This Disaster Coming. No One Listened.

Episode Date: September 8, 2026

We take a deep dive into the crash that killed five people over the weekend in Miami. The evidence is clear. This should have never happened. Ep. 1835 - - - Today's Sponsors: Cardiff - If you've been in business for at least a year, and are pulling in $20,000 a month in revenue, apply now for up to $500,000 in same day business funding at https://Cardiff.co/WALSH. Real growth. Fast funding. Cardiff – Borrow better. Policygenius - Head to https://policygenius.com/WALSH to compare life insurance quotes from top companies and see how much you could save Balance of Nature - Simple ingredients. Simple routine. Get an additional 10% off any Balance of Nature subscription PLUS a FREE Guiltless Snack when you use promo code WALSH. Visit https://BalanceofNature.com and use code WALSH. - - - DailyWire: Become a Daily Wire Member and watch all of our content ad-free: https://dwplus.watch/RealHistorySubscribe 🎆 🇺🇸 Celebrate America 250 with 3-Months of DailyWire for just $17.76 📜 📲 Download the free Daily Wire app today on iPhone, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Samsung, and more. 🍿 Run Hide Fight: Infidels will premiere on The Daily Wire, Wednesday September 16th. 📜 Real History with Matt Walsh is available ad-free, exclusively on DailyWire+ https://dwplus.watch/RealHistory 👕 Get your Matt Walsh flannel here: https://dwplus.shop/MattWalshMerch - - - Socials:  YouTube — https://youtube.com/@mattwalsh Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/mattwalshblog Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/mattwalshblog TikTok — https://www.tiktok.com/@mattwalsh_ X — https://twitter.com/mattwalshblog - - - Privacy Policy: https://www.dailywire.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In today's uncertain economy, American financing is helping families find a way out of the high-interest trap. We're heading into summer, but the economic clouds aren't clearing for most middle-class families between persistent inflation and the cost of daily life. You're likely feeling the pressure. You've worked hard for your home, probably have more equity than you realize, yet the summer surge is forcing many to rely on credit cards. It's an exhausting cycle, but American financing understands that 2026 requires a real strategy. That's why they have salary-based mortgage consultants with mortgage rates in the fives. Their customers are saving an average of $800 a month by wiping out high-interest debt.

That's money that stays in your pocket to fight back against rising costs. No upfront fees, no pressure. And if you start today, you could delay two mortgage payments. Call American Finance today, 866-5694711. That's 866-5694711 or visit Americanfinancing.net slash walsh. We have uncovered new information and accusations about the cargo airline operating the Amazon Prime airplane that crashed in Miami on Sunday, killing five people in a van inside the airport perimeter and in Toyota Corolla outside the perimeter. This cargo airline called 21 Air has a documented history of hiring foreigners who can't follow instructions from air traffic controllers, as well as a reputation for hiring incompetent pilots who can't pass basic training at other. airlines, according to industry professionals who say they have first-hand knowledge of the company's

operations. Now, we're going to go through the evidence we have in a moment, as well as the implications for air travel in this country, which, as we've discussed, many times before, is increasingly dangerous and third world. We will begin with the footage of the crash itself, which was presumably shot by a plane spotter or someone who noticed the plane was having difficulty. And as you watch this, you will immediately realize that the pilots are responsible for the disaster. I mean, there's no question about it. They practically dive-bomb the runway, and they don't even get all the wheels down until they're roughly halfway down the tarmac.

But watch and see for yourself. Here it is. Now, there's really no need for an aviation expert to analyze the footage. Anyone who's ever seen a plane land at any point in their lives understands the problem. This was a very unstable approach. They were not descending in a steady predicament. pattern instead they were far too high and too fast and indeed according to radar data they crossed a waypoint about four miles from the runway at 1400 feet which is 600 feet above where they should have

been the left main gear is clearly off of the runway for an extended period of time even after the other landing gear made contact with the runway and that means the plan can't stop effectively because none of the systems that slow the plane down the spoilers the brakes or the reverse thrusters work effectively or at all if the landing gear aren't on the ground. Now you can see from this reconstruction just how long it took for these pilots to put the plane on the ground. It's not even close really. So according to the website Flight Radar, the plane was going 183 knots, ground speed, not airspeed, at just 500 feet above the ground, so they're about twice as high as they should have been, probably going around 30 to 40 percent too fast. Now, there could very well be,

a variety of reasons for why the plane wasn't able to fly a normal approach. It's quite possible that the wind contributed. Obviously, thunderstorms were visible behind the plane. As reported by meteorologist John Morales, there was a tailwind gust at the time this plane was landing, coming from the south at around 30 miles an hour. Normally, planes don't land with a tailwind because it's too dangerous. And until a few minutes before the plane touched down, there was no tailwind at all. There's actually a small headwind coming from the west until the winds suddenly shifted. So yes, it's conceivable that the wind shifted at the last minute, making this approach substantially more difficult. And additionally, it's also possible that the pilots simply weren't paying attention to their airspeed or altitude.

Now, whatever the case really doesn't matter, because whatever a plane flies an unstable approach this close to the runway, in every case, pilots are supposed to execute a go-around. That means they're supposed to abort the landing, apply full throttle, and come around for another pass or divert to an alternate airport if necessary. This is the failsafe that solves all of these issues, and it's not optional. They were descending at a rate of 2,000 feet per minute on their final approach when the normal range is 500 to 800 feet per minute. Anything over 1,000 feet per minute on the descent is automatically an unstable approach that requires a go-around. And that's not even considering how long it took them to actually put the plane on the ground. They blew past at least a third of the runway, which is another reason for a go-round. At any point, as they were flying over the runway, and even as the landing gear first made contact, they could have aborted.

Instead, they drove the plane off the runway onto a perimeter road, and they killed several people. In short, the only conceivable explanation for this crash is that the pilots had no business flying in airplane of any kind, much less a massive cargo plane. That's not really a debatable point. The footage makes it very clear. We don't need to wait for the federal government to conclude a five-year investigation to determine that the pilots caused this crash due to their manifest incompetence. So now the relevant questions are, who were the pilots exactly? Why did the airline hire them? What did their training look like? And what were regulators doing instead of supervising this airline.

The first clue comes from the radio communications from this 21-air cargo plane just prior to the crash. So we'll play some of that footage, which was compiled by a channel called VAS Aviation. And to be clear, the call sign for 21-air is cargo south. So when you hear the pilot respond from cargo south, that's coming from the plane that ultimately crash,

and note that in a two-person crew, the pilot making the radio calls usually is. is not flying the plane at the same time. So with all that in mind, listen. 9598 heavy. ILS, 3-0. Cargos south-95-heavy, mind-way, 3-0-0-0-0. 9-0-0-0-0-0-0. Cargos out 75-90-8. All right, we tell. Noise 1.

Noise 1, Miami. Looks like we have an aircraft overran the runway on 30-0. Yes, sir. An American 2-297. Do you see at the end of the plane? Yeah, mega 2297. Yeah, the airport can be groundstopped. So the pilot clearly has a foreign accent, which by itself may not seem like a big deal.

But then you think of all the foreign-born truck drivers who have been mowing down Americans on the highway. And you start to wonder, does the same problem affect airlines? Is there an epidemic of unqualified pilots who can barely speak English who have been imported into this country to fly cargo planes or even passenger airlines? on the cheap? That's a reasonable question to ask. And it becomes even more reasonable when you look at this letter from the FAA to the director of operations of 21 Air

dated May of 2023. And the letter grants 21 Air permission to, quote, substitute a qualified and authorized check airman in place of an FAA inspector to observe a qualifying pilot in command who was completing the initial or upgrade training. During at least one flight leg,

that includes a takeoff and a landing. So yes, the FAA granted this cargo airline the ability to ditch the inspectors and certify their own pilots for takeoffs and landings. And there are few restrictions on the people the airline is allowed to substitute for the FAA inspector, but it's up to the airline to ensure compliance with those restrictions. So it's kind of like the honor system, basically. The letter is basically the FAA allowing 21A to self-regulate, which has become a very common theme in the aviation industry. It's one of the reasons those Boeing Max jets kept crashing. And this particular exemption is commonly issued to various airlines, but it's abundantly clear that certain airlines, especially garbage airlines,

but perhaps like 21 Air, should never have this authority. I mean, in this case, the FAA allowed 21 Air to get rid of independent FAA inspectors and basically self-certify their pilots for landings. And now it's clear that their pilots, pilots were, you know, were not capable of landing the planes, certainly in this case. So who are these pilots exactly? This is reporting from an engineer named Nick Plum. And here's what he says, quote, 21 Air's pilot group appears to have grown from around 20 in 2021 to 135 today, probably to support the seven additional Boeing 767s. Amazon shifted to it

from Atlas Air, another cargo airline. Public resumes show current pilots at 21 Air with prior flying careers in Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Central America, Ethiopia, and India. 21 Air also hires permanent residents and other work-authorized non-citizens. How this little-known carrier scaled this fast may be worth digging into.

And indeed it is. So this got my attention, so I decided to look closer at the reputation of 21 Air in the industry. Specifically, I pulled up dozens of posts on airline pilot forums, which is one of the most popular message boards among pilots. If you're a pilot looking for a new job and you want to get a sense of the quality of a particular airline, this is almost certainly a site that you're going to visit.

So two years ago, the reputation of 21AIR was heavily discussed on the airline pilot forums because one user was interested in working there. Quote, you have no idea the horrors that await you at 21 Air. It is the bottom feeder of all bottom feeders, clapped out rust buckets from Sanford and Sun. The turnover is 100% because it's so bad. There's nothing good in anyone's life going anywhere near 21 Air. And then there's this. Quote, almost every pilot that left ABX, that's another cargo airline,

for 21 Air was asked to resign because of how poorly they did in training. The only person I'm aware of that wasn't asked to resign was a prospective captain that got mad after he failed his E-tops check and left out of spite. The only thing I can confirm is that almost all the guys who left ABX for 21 Air did so because ABX asked them to resign during training. There are many more posts we'll get to in a second, but just by themselves, these two comments paint actually a very familiar picture. If you remember, it was just a few years ago when another Amazon Prime cargo plane, which was operated by a different carrier called Atlas Air, crashed into the water while an approach to Houston. And the cargo plane was being flown by Conrad Aska, who was a DEI hire who had no idea what he was doing in the cockpit. He constantly failed his simulator trading at other airlines, but he wound up getting hired by Atlas Air anyway. Alasair, of course, promoted DEI all over its website at the time.

And it didn't take long before Conrad Aska managed to fly a perfectly good airplane into the water. He accidentally pressed a switch that caused the plane's nose to tilt upward slightly, apparently because his gigantic watch hit the switch. And then in a panic, for reasons that make no sense, he decided to push the nose of the plane as far down as he could, disregarding all of his instruments, which told him that he was crashing the plane. This is one of the more unbelievable sequences to ever take place in modern aviation. It's basically akin to accidentally pressing the accelerator pedal on your car,

and then when the car lurches forward, you consciously decide to press down on the accelerator pedal for another 60 seconds until you crash into a wall going 100 miles per hour. That's essentially the equivalence here. Watch. The crew was setting up the approach procedure when the airplane encountered light turbulence. Shortly afterward, the autopilot and auto throttles entered go-around mode as the airplane was passing about 6,300 feet. There were no flight crew callouts.

Consistent with the activation of the go-around mode, the airplane arrested the descent and began a slight pitch up, and the thrust levers advanced. The speed brakes were retracted, which could only be done manually. The captain responded to a routine radio call, while the first officer pushed forward on the column and made a an expression about speed and exclaimed, we're stalling. There was no indication that the airplane actually stalled. It was likely that the first officer was experiencing disorientation due to the somatographic illusion, in which airplane acceleration results in a false nose-high feeling. The airplane reached a steep nose-down attitude in high speed. Below about 3,000 feet, the airplane broke out of the clouds, the controls moved to full nose-up, but it was too late before they

impacted the bay. So that presentation was from the NTSB, which claims that the pilot became disoriented, which is a very polite way of saying that he didn't have the IQ necessary to be a pilot. If your plane suddenly pitches up and your response is to fly the plane directly into the ground, even when all of your instruments are functioning normally, then you're not merely disoriented. You are completely and totally incompetent. And indeed, it's becoming apparent that, that total incompetence are being allowed to fly massive cargo planes all over the country. In particular, they're getting hired by Amazon, or at least contractors for Amazon, and that's why seven years later, yet another Amazon plane has crashed in a very preventable,

absurd fashion. The more you'll look into 21 Air, the more complaints you'll find from other pilots about how the airline was destined for a major crash. So here's another post, for example, where a pilot responds to someone who didn't get a callback from 21A.R. after an interview. The pilot describes a scenario where a 21-air cargo plane, working for a D.HL, caused a major incident in Newark. Quote, no offense, but it's probably good they aren't calling you. The other night, we taxied behind a D.HL cargo south, again, means a 21 airplane, clapped out 767 in Newark. Crew never turned on the beacon. Ground screamed at them twice. for not following directions.

The English was poor. Guess they don't know how to handle a low-altitude capture on the 76 because they blew past 2,500 clearance, and you could tell they were struggling to get the airplane on track and on altitude. ATC was livid.

Not worth putting your certification on the line for a 36th Street Venezuelan money laundering outfit. You're better off flying a paper airplane. Now, I'll be the first to admit that I don't understand everything in this quote. But from what I can tell with the help of Google, if we go line by line, the pilots of a 21 air jet failed to turn on the beacon on their plane, which is used for avoiding collisions, of course. They also got screamed at by ground controllers, presumably for being

unable to taxi properly. And then once airborne, they climbed beyond 2,500 feet without authorization, which endangered every other plane flying around Newark. And on top of all this, we're told that a 36th street Venezuelan money laundering outfit is involved. That's apparent reference to the well-established use of cargo airlines to smuggle drugs and other contraband to Central and South America, although we should note there's no evidence that 21 Air is knowingly involved in anything like that. That's just what it said in that one post. Nevertheless, the testimonials along these lines continue to roll in. Again, all these are from a couple of years ago prior to this recent crash. Apparently 21 Air had earned the nickname 21 Scare among pilots.

Quote, I've heard some scary stories of friends jump seating on 21 Scare, terrain warning and controlled flight into terrain maneuvers, high altitude stalls, automation issues. The majority of the pilots English is their second language. Amazing they haven't bent up a 767 yet. They're also in cahoots with our cargo jet exploiting a loophole with 10, temporary aircraft certificates and signing over airplanes from cargo jet 21 Air with a logbook entry and then operating domestic U.S. flights, then signing the aircraft back over and flying

back to Canada. So yes, the person wrote that it was amazing that a 21 Air hadn't destroyed a Boeing 767 yet, given how terrible the airline is. And just two years later, that's exactly that would happen. They managed to destroy a jet and several vehicles in the jet's path, along with killing several people. Now, obviously, we can't vouch for the credibility of any anonymous post on the internet. I don't endorse anything these people are saying for the simple reason that I can't prove any of it. I'm just telling you what these people are reporting. But in this case, there's obviously reason to believe that these critics have some idea what they're talking about, given the events of this weekend. It's a reasonable.

conclusion that they're not simply making up the fact that this airline has major problems, again, given these very recent events. America's 36.2 million small businesses drive our economy, but more than 70% need additional capital at least once a year. Even with small business revenue at an all-time high, big banks are tightening, underwriting, and approving fewer loans. If you want bank rates, without the bank delays, Cardiff can get your business approved in minutes and funded the very same day. Check out Cardiff.co.co slash Walsh up to $500,000 in same-day funding. And that speed matters because businesses, business opportunities tend to operate on their own schedule. If you need

to buy inventory, hire somebody, or jump on an expansion opportunity, we'll get back to in a few weeks is not especially useful. Cardiff was voted America's favorite small business lender in both 2024 and 2025 by workingcapital.com. And you can use the funding. However, your business needs it, whether that means hiring new employees, expanding, or purchasing inventory and materials in bulk. Banks try to lock out small businesses. Cardiff has the key. Big banks may not want to approve your business loans, but Cardiff does. If you've been in business for at least a year and are pulling in $20,000 a month in revenue, apply now for up to $500,000 in same-day business funding at cardiff.co slash Walsh. Again, it's cardiff.co slash walsh. Real growth, fast funding. Cardiff. Borrow

better. The internet has decided that September is now a second January, a chance to reorganize your life and rebuild your routines before the end of the year. It's called the September reset, because apparently doing something sensible now requires branding. But one useful rule is to handle important things while you're thinking about them, write it down, put it on a calendar, or take care of it immediately. Otherwise, you're assigning the task to your future self, a man with the same bad habits and even less time. And some of our responsibilities are too important to keep postponing before the year gets any busier. Take a moment to make sure that people who depend on you would be financially protected with life insurance.

If you've been putting it off because the process seems complicated, policy genius is exactly the kind of place I'd want to start. Policy Genius is a free online marketplace where you can compare quotes from some America's top insurers side by side. their license team helps explain the coverage and the prices and terms and answers your questions, handles paperwork, and advocates for you throughout the process. With PolicyGenius, you can find 20-year life insurance policy starting at just $276 a year for a million dollars in coverage. Go to policygenious.com slash Walsh to compare life insurance quotes

and see how much you could save. That's policygenious.com slash Walsh because future you already has enough to deal with. So the specific accusation here is that cargo jet, which is a foreign carrier, will land in the United States, then give control of the aircraft on paper over to 21 air. And this is necessary because by law, only domestic cargo carriers can fly from one U.S. city to another. This is actually a pretty well-documented phenomenon. Whether you view it as a loophole or not, it appears to be legal. But the optics aren't great, especially since cargo jet held significant roughly 25%

ownership stake in the holding company of 21 Air. And former cargo jet executives have taken senior roles at 21 Air. So it looks like 21 Air is basically a middleman for foreign cargo companies to get around the requirement of U.S. law. There are other alleged benefits that 21 Air provides to this foreign airline reading on from another poster. It says, quote, you would not honestly believe what goes on there. It's the management team that perpetuates the complete madness, though. The executives are old buddies from the 36th Street gangs back in the day. They don't know any way else. The owners are real pieces of work, and 21 Air is set up to fly struck freight if sister cargo jet goes on strike. You will be forced to get a Canadian validation

to do this very thing if you don't get fired. There's only one place worse than 21 Air, and that is World Atlantic. These two are where you go and no one else will take you. my surprise, not really, is that after all the incidents and poor training and conditions, the FAA lets these companies continue to operate, but no one else will fly the flowers and the bodies and that famous white stuff in and out of SA. It's really just that simple. You're honestly better at alligator alcatraz than 21 Air. So that's a thinly veiled and unsubstantiated accusation that 21 Air is trafficking cocaine, among other things. And again, I can't confirm any of that.

I'm just telling you what they say. He's also saying that the primary purpose of the airline is basically to bust strikes that take place in Canada and that the executives at the company are corrupt friends from other fly-by-night cargo operations in Miami. Again, these claims may or may not be true. I have no idea. But after what just took place in Miami with a 21-air cargo plane flying the single worst approach ever caught on film, at least in memory, there's no reason to automatically discount. any of these posts, everyone at the airline should be investigated. All of these pilots and industry professionals, everyone who made these posts, should be interviewed at a minimum. So here's one more post along these lines. Quote, for the love of God, stay as far away from this place as possible. You have no idea what you'd be getting yourself into. It truly is a bottom feeder of epic proportions, management that has been on the same merry-go-round for years. They go from one bottom feeder to the next. Now again, you could discount all these claims if you want to. Certainly there are plenty of small airlines that get similar complaints on forums like this,

including airlines that as of now have not had a fatal crash. So maybe this is all slander from random people with an axe to grind. Maybe 21 Air only hires the most competent pilots available. Maybe the executives are very ethical people. And there was no way to prevent the crash that just took place in Miami. But if that's the case, you have to wonder why were not allowed to know the names and employment history and qualifications of the pilots who were involved in the incident. This is obviously a matter of public concern. Five people are dead. A plane just careened off the runway at a major airport. We have a right to know who was involved. So we can figure out how to prevent pilots like this from ever getting hired again.

Whatever privacy rights these pilots have, they don't trump the public's right to know what happened. people are dead because of the actions of these pilots. So who are the pilots? Well, the government right now won't tell us. And that's not surprising. Since the government has a clear conflict of interest here, they supposedly regulate the airlines. Public disclosure of the identity of the pilots could reveal government incompetence or complicity in certifying these pilots, just like the government certifies incompetent truck drivers all the time. And for their part, for obvious reasons, the airlines also want to bury the story forever. And we shouldn't allow that. If the pilot, hypothetically, just got hired from Venezuelan Airlines or something like that, it would be a national news story, and rightfully so. But this has become normal in the aviation industry. In late 2022, a United Airlines passenger plane departing Maui plunged 7,000 feet per minute to within 800 feet of the ocean, all because of pilot error.

And to this day, we have no idea who these pilots were. They have not faced any kind of discipline either, as far as we know. Watch. A frightening nosedive. We are learning about that United Airlines flight from Hawaii to San Francisco that nearly crashed into the Pacific. It happened in December, but tonight the report is out, and we are hearing now from passengers. They call it a miracle. Rod Williams and his family were headed to San Francisco after a Hawaiian vacation.

Very shortly into the flight itself, The pitch of the aircraft took a dramatic rise. It was December 18th, less than 90 seconds after departure. New data from flight radar 24 reveals the United Airlines triple seven suddenly dove, falling 7,000 feet per minute. We're all looking at each other, looking at the window, grabbing onto the seat, grabbing the hand of the person next to us, praying under our breath.

Again, maybe a scream here and there. Williams has an aviation background and says he had an idea of what was happening, but today he's learning they were within 800 feet of slamming into the ocean. We're all that five to five point two seconds away from not being around our loved ones. In a statement, United Airlines says after landing at SFO, the pilots filed a safety report, then coordinated with the FAA and the pilots union on an investigation that ultimately resulted in the pilots receiving additional training. So the pilot wanted five degrees of flaps, and the first officer sets 15 degrees instead.

They don't realize it, and they nearly crash as a result. The key detail here is that the pilots self-reported the mistake, which apparently grants them total immunity. The NTSB has concealed the pilot's identities, and the airline hasn't punished them solely because they self-reported under the Aviation Safety Action Program, or ASAP, which is something the FAA apparently endorses. First of all, whether they self-reported this or not, the passengers were going to report it themselves, so they don't really deserve any credit. Plunging 7,000 feet per minute is something you would probably notice if you're a passenger. And secondly, even if no one had noticed it somehow, self-reporting should not grant you immunity from consequences. I mean, if you self-report that you nearly crash a plane and kill everybody on board, you should be named and certainly fired and potentially arrested. Instead, we have a system where you suffer no consequences whatsoever.

I mean, imagine if we had this system in any other profession. Imagine if a police officer accidentally shoots at an innocent bystander and the bullet misses by a fraction of an inch. If he self-reports what happened, are we just supposed to look the other way? It's absurd. But that's how it works in the aviation industry. Once you have enough children, meals can sometimes become more of a theoretical concept. The children eat meals, you prepare the meals, and then you clean up the meals. But somehow your own lunch consists of three bites of something while standing over the kitchen counter

and half of whatever your child decided. They no longer wanted. This is not something that could be explained before becoming a parent. And, you know, that is where balance of nature comes in handy. Their whole health system contains 47 ingredients of real whole fruits, vegetables, spices, and fibers, all built into a routine that's simple enough to keep doing even. when the rest of the day is chaos. Then there are the guiltless snacks,

which are 100% real whole fruit. Each bag has one ingredient, the fruit that's actually on the package. That's almost suspiciously straightforward. Bananas, strawberries, pineapple, mango. They're freeze-dried, crunchy, naturally sweet, no additives, no fillers, no added sugars. It's something you can actually grab

when the day gets away from you. Simple food, simple routine. No need to make this harder than it is. Go to balance of nature.com. today and use promo code Walsh for an additional 10% off your subscription. And right now, Code Walsh also gets you a free guiltless snack with your order, Bounce of Nature.com, promo code Walsh. This is a good time to mention that United Airlines is well known in the industry for its aggressive DEI targets.

They set a goal of having 50% of the students in their flight academy being women or people of color. They have all kinds of partnerships with various explicitly non-white organizations. including the organization of black aerospace professionals, the Latino Pilots Association, the Professional Asian Pilots Association. So they heavily recruit from so-called historically black colleges as well. They are a DEI airline, in other words. And they know that as long as their pilots self-report their mistakes,

then there's a good chance we'll never find out their identities or whether DEI was involved in their hiring. Now, even in cases where we do ultimately learn the identities of the pilots, it takes a while. A couple of years ago, for example, an American Airlines plane crossed roughly 1,000 feet in front of a Delta flight with 145 passengers on board that was departing from Kennedy International Airport in New York. the American flight was supposedly turned right to cross runway 31 left but instead it proceeded across runway 4 left where the Delta plane was taking off

watch Delta 1943 went 3501-10-1-8 Gus 2-4, runway 4 left 5% off I click for take off On 8th 4 left Delta 19-4-8 Giblai 918 can a tower runway 4 left line of a plane

4 left 100% American 185 Canadian-185 American 185 and we three one left kilo echo line up and weight line up and weight three one left a kilo echo for american one two left delta nineteen forty three cancel takeoff clearance delta nineteen forty three cancel takeoff clinch rejecting our america now one zero six heavy right go on zero six heavy clients we are given we are cleared to cross is that correct american one geo six heavy we're departing runway four left um yes we'll listen to the tapes

but you are supposed to depart runway four left. You're currently holding short of 3-1 left. Roger America on. Back on 106-heavy cross runway 3-1 left, they're key. So this was seconds away from being one of the deadliest aviation accidents in history, and after the near-miss, the cover-up began. First, the crew did not report the incident to American Airlines. Instead, they flew all the way to London,

a flight so long that the cockpit voice recorder was taped over. And then when federal investigators tried to interview them, the crew, on the advice of their union, refused to cooperate. The NTSB had to issue subpoenas to get them to talk, and it's because of those subpoenas that we ever learned the names of the pilots in the first place. For more than a year after the incident, their names were redacted. So finally, after the NTSB opened its public docket, we learned that the co-pilot, Tracy Gonzalez, claimed she had been distracted by a large number of weather alerts. She said that, quote, she was unaware of the airplane's position when the captain taxied onto runway 4L. She knew they were approaching a runway, but she did not realize they were approaching runway 4L. Meanwhile, the captain, Michael Graver, was equally clueless.

He admitted he spotted big red lights, meaning do not enter the runway, but he disregarded them. Quote, all of a sudden, I saw that red glow and I just, right away I said something, that ain't right. I didn't know what was happening, but I was thinking something's wrong. Obviously, none of these pilots should ever work again, but as far as we know, they're still flying passengers around. The government hid their identities for months until the heat died down. The pilots stalled the interviews for as long as possible. And now that we've determined the pilots were culpable, nothing was done. Now, to be clear, DEI is just one part of this story. Again, we still have no idea whether the pilots in the Miami crash were DEI hires or not. Yes, as a general matter,

It's true the DEI pilots are being protected even after they nearly kill people. That's true. But we should also be honest about the fact that failing, falling standards in the aviation industry are linked to various cost-cutting measures as well, including how companies outsource to contractors to lower overhead costs, skirt liability, cause a race to the bottom to improve their revenues. One of the reasons Amazon hires multiple cargo companies to fly these planes is to pit the companies against one another. Amazon wants to lower, you know, wants the lowest rate. So rather than hiring one dedicated high-quality cargo airline, they provide an incentive for these bottom-feeding airlines to fight among themselves for the contract. Foreign hiring, of course, is another related element of the story. So is the fact that the FAA allowed this airline to self-certify its own. pilots for takeoffs and landings. So we're extremely lucky that this accident, as horrible as it was, only involved a cargo plane and a couple of vehicles. As I've been saying for several years now,

we are on a trajectory where air disasters are going to become more common than ever. We simply have too many planes being flown in very congested airspace, along with too many exemptions and DEI pilots. The mid-air collision over the Potomac, which was caused by a female helicopter pilot, was a sign that something needs to change in this industry and quickly. And the crash of this Amazon cargo plane in Miami and all the warning signs that were missed is a reminder that none of those changes have actually taken place. In fact, it was just a few weeks ago that Marine One, the president's helicopter, was allowed to come far too close to a passenger plane over Reagan Airport in D.C. because the controllers missed a key radio transmission from the helicopter.

This is the state of American aviation. We can't even keep the president's helicopter safe. We are reliant on a small number of air traffic controllers who hate their jobs, foreign pilots who can't speak English, and airlines that self-certify their own terrible pilots. This is a setup that makes many more disasters inevitable. And until someone in the government has the foresight of random anonymous pilots and an online message board, we can expect that nothing will change. And every flight you board will carry a substantial, preventable, unnecessary risk because of it. That'll do for the show today. Thanks for watching. Thanks for listening. Talk to you tomorrow.

Have a great day. Godspeed. Every significant movement in history has started with protesting. You're a traitor! Uncle Tom! This is our generation's civil rights! I have no idea what the protest is about. Bingo! Given the current climate, should a figure as polarizing as Clay Saunders,

you can be allowed on Panthers? Ah, can you hear me okay? Saunders is a close personal friend of Chancellor Freeman. This is a decision I cannot fight. Islam will conquer the West. Islam al-Aqu. Are we paying attention? They've taken over the building.

They're downstairs and they've blocked. lock the doors. I seek forgiveness from Allah the Almighty. We cannot run and hide. Muhammad is the messenger of God. There is no God but Allah. What do you say? We turn those s-o-bees into a fine red mist.

As we move, one man will cover while the other guys go. They call that leap project. Stretch your mouth and listen. You need a course in safe way. and safe weapons handling.