Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Elon Musk’s DOGE team will take part in an ‘upgrade’ of the Federal Aviation Administration’s computer system – after a string of air crashes including the tragic helicopter collision in Washington D.C.
Duffy posted the news on X, the former Twitter site now owned by Musk, as new details on the horrific crash on the approach to Ronald Reagan airport continue to emerge.
‘Big News – Talked to the DOGE team. They are going to plug in to help upgrade our aviation system,’ wrote Duffy, a former congressman and reality star who took the helm of the agency just the day before the crash.
Musk, the world’s richest man and a ‘Special Government Employee’ who plowed money into Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, seconded the plan by reposting Duffy’s comments.
He wrote: ‘With the support of President @realDonaldTrump, the @DOGE team will aim to make rapid safety upgrades to the air traffic control system. Just a few days ago, the FAA’s primary aircraft safety notification system failed for several hours!’
Members of Elon Musk’s DOGE outfit will ‘plug in to help upgrade our aviation system,’ said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy
There have been other air incidents since then, including a medical plane that crashed in northeast Philadelphia and a collision between a Delta and Japan Airlines aircraft at Seattle-Takoma International Airport.
The posts are just the latest confirmation of the expanding reach of Musk’s outfit, which Trump created with an executive order.
DOGE workers have been spotted at the FBI, and clashed with Treasury officials over access to a huge database of government payments.
They are now looking at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and gaining access to key payment and contract systems there.
Musk’s team has already gone after online information from the Treasury and has been spotted at the FBI
All the activity, amid a multi-agency purge and an offer to 2 million employees to retire and get paid through the end of September, have some elected Democrats complaining that Musk is in charge and calling some of the group’s actions potentially illegal.
There is little doubt that the FAA’s computer systems are in need of an upgrade.
A 2024 report by the Government Accountability Office found that 37 percent of its systems had outdated functionality, need maintenance, or lacked the needed spare parts.
Nor did the agency ‘prioritize or establish near-term plans to modernize unsustainable and critical systems based on its operational assessment.’
But Musk’s role at the FAA was coming under scrutiny even before the post.
Michael Whitaker, the former head of the FAA, resigned on January 20th, the day Donald Trump took office, after a clash with Musk.
The agency had fined Musk’s SpaceX $600,000 in 2024 over safety requirements. Musk threatened to sue the agency for ‘regulatory overreach’ and wrote that Whitaker ‘needs to resign,’ Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren wrote Musk January 31.
‘This resignation—which you called for after the FAA fined your company for safety issues —has left this critical agency without leadership while facing significant challenges, including the tragic midair crash of American Eagle Flight 5342 and an Army Black Hawk helicopter that killed 67 individuals—including at least six from Massachusetts —on the approach to Washington Reagan National Airport,’ Warren wrote.
The new focus on computer systems came after President Trump blamed the Black Hawk helicopter crew for flying too high. In stunning remarks less than 24-hours after the crash, Trump blamed D.E.I. hiring practices among air traffic controllers for the crash.
