The Government Blames Diversity for Deadly Plane Crash—This Latino Pilot’s Family Is Calling BS
The tragic mid-air collision between American Eagle Flight No. 5342 and a Black Hawk helicopter over Washington has sent shockwaves through the nation. Shortly after the crash, President Donald Trump blamed the accident on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies in federal aviation. The remarks faced criticism from elected officials and family members of the pilots for both aircrafts. With no evidence, President Trump used the tragedy to advance his agenda.
The family of the commercial aircraft pilot has spoken out against the rhetoric. For them, President Trump’s remarks, when the nation needed leadership and empathy, have tainted Pilot Jonathan Campos’ memory.
Pilot Jonathan Campos’ family is infuriated at President Donald Trump’s unfounded attack on their loved one
President Trump has been on a warpath, blaming diversity for the nation’s issues. He has signed executive orders to strip federal agencies of their efforts to create a more diverse pool of candidates to strengthen their agencies. In response, the Administration has scrapped recognition of holidays like Martin Luther King Jr. Day and observances like Black History Month.
For Campos’ family, the most heinous moment of this anti-DEI campaign was attacking their loved one with no evidence or context. Nicole Suissa, Campos’ former financée, the political rhetoric about the tragedy happened before Campos’ body was even retrieved from the Potomac River.
“What really irked me to no end was it was, the next day they published Jonathan’s name and Jonathan’s very Puerto Rican-looking face, all I could hear in the back of my head was all these people, all these DEI fear-mongering people going, ‘You see, I knew he’d be Hispanic,’ and I lost my mind,” Suissa told ABC News. “The politicization of this man’s death is entirely inappropriate. It is abhorrent, disgraceful. It is insensitive, to say the least.”
The crash killed all 67 people on both aircrafts. After days of searching, they have recovered all of the bodies from the Potomac River.
People are pushing back and celebrating Campos’ life
Campos always wanted to be a pilot, and on the night of his death, he was captaining the nonstop flight from Wichita, Kansas, to Washington. He had been flying for six years, and his experience kicked in during the final moments of the doomed flight. At the last minute, Campos attempted to save lives by pulling the nose of the plane up to avoid the collision. Those final moments of heroic behavior are how we should remember Campos. In the face of certain death, he was fearless and determined.
An op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer details his life, which was cut short by the accident. The article relies on interviews with Suissa, who is now an attorney in New Jersey. Readers learn about his teenage dreams of being a pilot. His life was what so many of us wanted: the achievement of his American dream.
The stories in the piece portray Campos as the kind and funny person his loved ones knew. Suissa, his high school girlfriend and then financée before breaking up, is still close to his family and was in Campos’ life before the mid-air collision.
In the end, the family wants to be able to mourn their loved one’s death without proselytizing him for being Puerto Rican. May all of the victims of the crash rest in peace. May their families feel the love and support around them during this time.
