WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:02.960 This is Gary and Shannon and you're listening to KFI 2 00:00:03.080 --> 00:00:05.879 AM six forty, the Gary and Shannon Show on demand 3 00:00:05.960 --> 00:00:07.320 on the iHeartRadio app. 4 00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:11.519 We will follow a strange science coming up late in 5 00:00:11.560 --> 00:00:14.279 this hour. We're going to be talking with Jay Ratliffe 6 00:00:14.240 --> 00:00:18.120 here in a few minutes regarding the airplane crashes that 7 00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:20.440 we've seen and whether or not there's any sort of 8 00:00:20.440 --> 00:00:25.280 connection to FAA cuts and air traffic safety oscars just 9 00:00:25.320 --> 00:00:27.559 a few days away. So Hollywood's first big round of 10 00:00:27.600 --> 00:00:30.800 street closures has begun to accommodate all the preps for 11 00:00:30.839 --> 00:00:33.240 the big day. So starting today, all lanes of Hollywood 12 00:00:33.240 --> 00:00:37.000 Boulevard closed from Orange Drive to Highland Avenue for about 13 00:00:37.000 --> 00:00:42.039 a week and a half. The oscars themselves are March second. 14 00:00:42.119 --> 00:00:44.000 Whatever that Sunday night is, I think it's the second, 15 00:00:44.200 --> 00:00:47.640 So that road will be closed to believe until the fifth. 16 00:00:48.039 --> 00:00:49.479 One of the Senate stories that. 17 00:00:49.479 --> 00:00:53.159 We talked we talked about the cash Betel being confirmed 18 00:00:53.200 --> 00:00:55.719 by the Senate. We talked about Mitch mcconoy tire. Two 19 00:00:56.039 --> 00:01:02.520 of John Fetterman's longest serving staff members are leaving his team. 20 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:06.200 Charlie Hills, a communications director, and Trey Easton Legislative Director 21 00:01:06.319 --> 00:01:10.439 soon departing the Democrats office. Both men worked on Fetterman's 22 00:01:10.519 --> 00:01:13.480 campaign in twenty twenty two. They've been with him during 23 00:01:13.480 --> 00:01:16.000 his two year Senate career, but they said that they 24 00:01:16.079 --> 00:01:18.879 don't like the fact that John Fetterman is cozying up 25 00:01:18.920 --> 00:01:22.920 to Donald Trump, so they are out. First pitch has 26 00:01:23.000 --> 00:01:26.400 been thrown, by the way in this year's spring training, 27 00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:30.079 The Dodgers are hosting the Cubs today in the first 28 00:01:30.120 --> 00:01:32.400 spring training game of twenty twenty five. 29 00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:39.640 What else is going on? Time four? What's happening? Well? 30 00:01:39.640 --> 00:01:42.680 As I quickly mentioned, the Senate has confirmed Cash Patel, 31 00:01:42.840 --> 00:01:45.439 president Trump's choice to be the FBI director, final vote 32 00:01:45.480 --> 00:01:49.159 fifty one to forty nine. There were two Republicans who 33 00:01:49.239 --> 00:01:53.439 voted against Cash Pattel, Susan Collins of Maine Lisa Murkowski 34 00:01:53.879 --> 00:01:57.280 of Alaska, both of them not huge surprises. They tend 35 00:01:57.280 --> 00:02:00.319 to be much more moderate when it comes to their 36 00:02:00.359 --> 00:02:06.400 politics than others, and have said repeatedly that they didn't 37 00:02:06.480 --> 00:02:10.240 like some of Trump's choices for his cabinet, and in fact, 38 00:02:11.039 --> 00:02:13.919 Cash Battel was one of those that was touted as 39 00:02:14.280 --> 00:02:20.039 potentially being unconfirmable. I mean, you figure after Matt Gates 40 00:02:20.120 --> 00:02:24.439 dropped out to the running to be Attorney General. There 41 00:02:24.439 --> 00:02:26.680 were still questions about whether Pam Bondi was going to 42 00:02:26.680 --> 00:02:29.120 be the ag, about whether Tulsey Gabbett was going to 43 00:02:29.120 --> 00:02:31.919 be Director of National Intelligence, about Cash Battel at FBI, 44 00:02:32.039 --> 00:02:37.680 about Pete Hegseath at Defense, and RFK Junior at HHS. 45 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:40.639 All of those were questions, and it looks like Republicans 46 00:02:40.639 --> 00:02:45.280 fell in line and voted with their president to fill 47 00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:48.960 out the cabinet. So it's almost complete now. We've talked 48 00:02:49.080 --> 00:02:52.000 also about the Idaho college killings and the suspect in 49 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:55.879 that case, Brian Coberger. In a major ruling, the judge 50 00:02:55.879 --> 00:03:00.800 overseeing the case has denied a request to exclude some 51 00:03:00.919 --> 00:03:03.680 key DNA and other evidence from his upcoming trial. They 52 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:07.759 wanted to suppress the DNA evidence that was seen as 53 00:03:07.879 --> 00:03:12.039 really the key piece of evidence against him. The judge 54 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:15.759 said the constitutional rights of Brian Coburger were not violated. 55 00:03:16.080 --> 00:03:18.800 The police did behave properly. 56 00:03:19.479 --> 00:03:22.639 The evidence investigators obtained throughout the investigation which led them 57 00:03:22.680 --> 00:03:27.039 to Coburger is not tainted and can be admitted at trial. 58 00:03:27.919 --> 00:03:30.599 The judge said that they failed to demonstrate that the 59 00:03:31.080 --> 00:03:35.080 demonstrate that the constitutional rights were violated by this because 60 00:03:35.199 --> 00:03:38.520 the cops and the investigators used a controversial new technique 61 00:03:38.599 --> 00:03:43.000 known as investigative genetic genealogy, which is strange because it's 62 00:03:43.039 --> 00:03:45.400 been around for several years and has been proven multiple 63 00:03:45.400 --> 00:03:48.439 times to be a very important tool when it comes 64 00:03:48.439 --> 00:03:52.120 to investigating. They said that this genetic use of the 65 00:03:52.240 --> 00:03:58.280 use of genetic genealogy, with that minuscule drop of blood 66 00:03:58.439 --> 00:04:02.919 that was found on the Knight sheath, was able to 67 00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:06.199 point investigators in Coburger's direction. They have said that they 68 00:04:06.199 --> 00:04:08.159 connected it to a family member they haven't told us 69 00:04:08.159 --> 00:04:10.960 who that is, and then sort of built backwards the 70 00:04:10.960 --> 00:04:12.919 family tree that led them to this guy. 71 00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:16.800 So at this point, it's going to be admitted. 72 00:04:17.759 --> 00:04:21.279 Some debris from the Palisades fire has been washing up 73 00:04:21.279 --> 00:04:25.040 on beaches in Santa Monica, this after the recent rainstorms. 74 00:04:25.040 --> 00:04:29.199 The sediment, they said, consists mostly of fine ash mixed 75 00:04:29.199 --> 00:04:32.600 with sand that washed into and out of the ocean. 76 00:04:33.240 --> 00:04:36.040 They said, the initial tests show that this is not hazardous. 77 00:04:36.639 --> 00:04:40.199 County experts are regularly testing ocean water and sediment and 78 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:44.839 will health issue health advisories if they have to. You 79 00:04:44.920 --> 00:04:47.319 might have seen Chris clue the former NFL punter I 80 00:04:47.360 --> 00:04:50.319 think he punted for UCLA as well. He was at 81 00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:53.160 the Huntington Beach City council meeting this week delivered a 82 00:04:53.199 --> 00:04:57.800 speech that criticized this design of a plaque that has 83 00:04:58.199 --> 00:05:02.360 an acronym at the bottom of it that spells out MAGA. 84 00:05:02.519 --> 00:05:05.800 Spells out MAGA. That's not what the words are. But Kluey, 85 00:05:05.839 --> 00:05:08.240 get up there, Got up there. Eight year NFL veteran 86 00:05:09.079 --> 00:05:12.000 played for the Minnesota Vikings the whole time. He said 87 00:05:12.040 --> 00:05:15.759 that he denounced MAGA. They were profoundly corrupt, unmistakably anti 88 00:05:15.800 --> 00:05:19.360 democracy values, and said that he was going to engage 89 00:05:19.399 --> 00:05:23.800 in peaceful civil disobedience and then starts walking towards the 90 00:05:23.839 --> 00:05:27.000 city council with his arms behind his back and then 91 00:05:27.199 --> 00:05:30.839 was quickly put on the ground, cuffed and taken away. 92 00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:33.720 Four officers led him away from the council chambers. Not 93 00:05:33.800 --> 00:05:36.480 clear yet exactly what charges he's going to face as 94 00:05:36.519 --> 00:05:41.800 a result of this. The uber with gun app has 95 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:44.639 launched in Los Angeles. Not exactly what it's called, but 96 00:05:45.199 --> 00:05:48.199 if you're interested in riding in a blacked out suv 97 00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:53.920 with an armed bodyguard, you are in luck. Protector is 98 00:05:53.959 --> 00:05:57.720 an app that's now available on the iOS Mac app Store, 99 00:05:57.759 --> 00:06:01.480 offering ride share services kind of like Uber and Lyft, 100 00:06:01.519 --> 00:06:04.439 but with a twist. It comes with a personal protector 101 00:06:04.959 --> 00:06:09.240 in the form of former military or law enforcement professional who, 102 00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:12.519 by the way, are packing heat and To describe the 103 00:06:12.519 --> 00:06:16.240 new app in simple terms, one app advisor said, over 104 00:06:16.279 --> 00:06:19.879 the last few months, I've been advising protectors. It's a 105 00:06:19.879 --> 00:06:23.319 new app for ordering an on demand security detail, or, 106 00:06:23.399 --> 00:06:29.000 as Nikita Beer said, it's simply Uber with guns. As 107 00:06:29.040 --> 00:06:33.240 of today, it's only available in LA and New York City. 108 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:35.800 When you book it, you can select the amount of 109 00:06:35.879 --> 00:06:39.360 protectors you want inside. You can choose their dress code 110 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:44.519 from business formal like a traditional suit, business casual, a 111 00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:49.240 lighter suit no tie, or tactical casual, a polo shirt, 112 00:06:49.319 --> 00:06:53.600 tac pants and shoes. And an operator as well, which 113 00:06:53.639 --> 00:06:56.120 would be full on a tire that looks like they 114 00:06:56.160 --> 00:06:58.839 are a member of the SWAT team. You can select 115 00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:02.199 as many as three vehicles to be included in a motorcade. 116 00:07:02.879 --> 00:07:06.160 One passenger requested a single Cadillac Escalade with one protector. 117 00:07:07.199 --> 00:07:10.079 If you pick them up, it's about one thousand bucks. 118 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:13.680 It would offer five hours of protection. The minimum amount 119 00:07:13.680 --> 00:07:15.800 of time that can be selected would be five hours, 120 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:18.120 and you could obviously split that up between different people, 121 00:07:18.240 --> 00:07:21.839 but the fare does not include a membership which is required, 122 00:07:21.839 --> 00:07:24.079 and that runs about one hundred and twenty nine bucks 123 00:07:24.480 --> 00:07:29.600 per year. We've had a series of airline and airplane 124 00:07:29.759 --> 00:07:32.519 incidents over the last couple of weeks. I guess you 125 00:07:32.519 --> 00:07:36.560 could say it kind of started with the crash in DC, 126 00:07:37.160 --> 00:07:40.759 that regional airliner that was coming in that collided with 127 00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:44.120 an Army black Hawk helicopter. Sixty Seven people died when 128 00:07:44.319 --> 00:07:46.560 both of those aircraft ended up in the Potomac River, 129 00:07:47.079 --> 00:07:52.720 and that is being used in conjunction with a series 130 00:07:52.759 --> 00:07:57.120 of cuts for FAA staff that the administration has announced. 131 00:07:57.120 --> 00:07:59.199 So wanted to get into some of these incidents that 132 00:07:59.240 --> 00:08:02.360 we've seen in the lines and talk about the FAA 133 00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:04.720 and how important it is in terms of air travel. 134 00:08:04.959 --> 00:08:08.680 Jay Rattliff is iHeartRadio's aviation analyst and joins us and Jay, 135 00:08:08.759 --> 00:08:10.759 first of all, thanks for taking time for us today. 136 00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:12.319 It's always my pleasure. 137 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:17.600 Let's start actually at the latest incident, one of the 138 00:08:17.639 --> 00:08:20.720 latest incidents, because I'm curious to get your impression on this, 139 00:08:21.800 --> 00:08:24.120 the Toronto incident where the plane was coming in from 140 00:08:24.160 --> 00:08:30.199 Minneapolis and it was on landing. It hit hard, it flipped, 141 00:08:30.199 --> 00:08:34.240 lost its right wing flips over upside down. When you 142 00:08:34.360 --> 00:08:37.080 saw the video, because I assume you have, what did 143 00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:38.480 you think was going on? 144 00:08:39.399 --> 00:08:40.879 Well, the first I mean, we knew there was a 145 00:08:40.919 --> 00:08:45.919 weather event, the crosswinds were there. We found out that 146 00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:49.080 the breaking conditions on the runway were good, so it 147 00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:52.200 wasn't anything an experienced crew would have any trouble navigating. 148 00:08:53.039 --> 00:08:55.320 The thing that shocked me is I watched the video, 149 00:08:55.440 --> 00:08:58.320 is as an airplane comes in normally with a crosswind, 150 00:08:58.360 --> 00:09:02.200 you're going to have an increase in arrival speed to 151 00:09:02.279 --> 00:09:05.080 kind of help offset the crosswind. But this one was 152 00:09:05.120 --> 00:09:07.360 coming in a little faster than that. But the thing 153 00:09:07.399 --> 00:09:11.840 that stuck out initially was that just before landing, typically 154 00:09:11.919 --> 00:09:14.639 what will happen is the aircraft nose well just tip 155 00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:16.919 up just a bit. We call it flaring, where the 156 00:09:16.960 --> 00:09:19.799 rear landing gears or the main gears will touchdown first 157 00:09:20.279 --> 00:09:23.679 and then the front rotates down where the front landing 158 00:09:23.720 --> 00:09:27.559 gear is then comes into contact with the runway. A 159 00:09:27.559 --> 00:09:33.240 few moments later, this looked like all three landing gears hit. 160 00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:38.000 It's the same time I heard the fighter pilot Matthew 161 00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:40.519 Buckley I think his name is, said, this looked like 162 00:09:40.879 --> 00:09:43.080 an aircraft landing, you know when you come in high 163 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:45.519 speed and they've got the net to catch a type 164 00:09:45.519 --> 00:09:48.840 of thing. Because this was much harder than what we 165 00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:51.879 would normally see. Now, why did it happen, we don't know, 166 00:09:52.360 --> 00:09:55.559 but apparently from the video, as soon as the landing 167 00:09:55.639 --> 00:09:59.039 gears hit you see that immediate pitch to the right, 168 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:02.679 and it looked like either a tire blue or probably 169 00:10:02.720 --> 00:10:07.200 what happened was the landing gear itself collapsed and could 170 00:10:07.240 --> 00:10:09.159 have been ripped off the aircraft. I don't know about 171 00:10:09.159 --> 00:10:12.480 that part, but obviously something happened to cause that airplane 172 00:10:12.519 --> 00:10:16.759 to dip quickly to the right, which unfortunately allowed the 173 00:10:16.799 --> 00:10:19.519 wing to catch on to something that caused it to 174 00:10:19.559 --> 00:10:23.279 be ripped off, turn the airplane sideways and then continue 175 00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:26.080 down the runway. The other wing tipped up and of 176 00:10:26.120 --> 00:10:29.399 course with the crosswind, it came right on over which 177 00:10:29.440 --> 00:10:32.360 put that aircraft on its top as it was going 178 00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:36.200 down the runway. So we don't know what caused this 179 00:10:36.600 --> 00:10:39.480 hard landing, If it was something weather event that caused 180 00:10:39.480 --> 00:10:42.000 the crew to land harder than they should have. If 181 00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:44.879 it was a mechanical situation with the aircraft, we don't know. 182 00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:48.440 If it was a medical episode, was on the pilots. 183 00:10:48.480 --> 00:10:51.039 I mean, there's a lot that goes into the investigation 184 00:10:51.080 --> 00:10:53.799 of the National Transportation Safety Board, and that's the reason 185 00:10:53.799 --> 00:10:57.039 the investigation will go eight to twelve months and Gary, 186 00:10:57.039 --> 00:10:59.960 they're going to look at everything, but the visual look 187 00:11:00.120 --> 00:11:03.720 get things seems to me to center around that Wright's 188 00:11:04.080 --> 00:11:07.279 main landing gear and what caused it. What happened, we 189 00:11:07.320 --> 00:11:10.039 don't know, but that certainly seemed to be the first 190 00:11:10.080 --> 00:11:13.759 event that triggered the other events that led to that 191 00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:16.600 aircraft ending up on its top. And I've been doing 192 00:11:16.600 --> 00:11:18.200 these for thirty three years, and I was trying to 193 00:11:18.200 --> 00:11:19.799 think the last time I had to talk about an 194 00:11:19.840 --> 00:11:22.919 aviation situation here in the United States where we had 195 00:11:22.960 --> 00:11:26.759 an aircraft on the top of itself like that, and 196 00:11:27.159 --> 00:11:29.960 I couldn't think of anything. It's incredibly rare. And then 197 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:33.039 to see everyone walk away from that is even more 198 00:11:33.320 --> 00:11:35.600 of a testament of just a lot of things going 199 00:11:35.720 --> 00:11:38.600 right after whatever happened wrong took place. 200 00:11:38.799 --> 00:11:43.159 Okay, so we're in a situation here where these incidents, 201 00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:46.519 I mean, we had a small plane in Arizona. Yesterday, 202 00:11:46.559 --> 00:11:48.679 we had a lear jet in Scottsdale. Last week we 203 00:11:48.720 --> 00:11:52.120 had the airplane crash, the medical jet in Philly. We've 204 00:11:52.159 --> 00:11:56.720 had some crashes that become high profile because of everything 205 00:11:56.720 --> 00:11:58.519 that's going on politically. We'll get to that in the 206 00:11:58.559 --> 00:12:04.159 next segment. But I wanted to ask, isn't the investigative agency, 207 00:12:04.200 --> 00:12:07.960 whether it's in Canada for the Toronto crash or the 208 00:12:08.039 --> 00:12:11.320 NTSB for anything that happens here, wouldn't they want to 209 00:12:11.320 --> 00:12:14.919 get out in front of and give some initial information 210 00:12:15.279 --> 00:12:18.840 about something, at least to put people's minds at ease 211 00:12:19.039 --> 00:12:20.960 that this isn't a systemic problem. 212 00:12:21.320 --> 00:12:22.399 This is kind of a one off. 213 00:12:22.440 --> 00:12:24.559 It might have been pilot error, it could have been 214 00:12:24.600 --> 00:12:28.039 the bad weather, just a a rare occurrence like that, 215 00:12:28.120 --> 00:12:32.240 as opposed to, you know, just to reinstill people's. 216 00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:35.960 Confidence in the airline system. 217 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:39.519 We will get an initial briefing from the NTSB about 218 00:12:39.519 --> 00:12:42.559 thirty days after each crash, and it's going to be 219 00:12:42.600 --> 00:12:44.840 a very brief Here's what we know, here's what we 220 00:12:44.919 --> 00:12:47.720 don't know, and they're going to allow the evidence to 221 00:12:49.320 --> 00:12:52.200 kind of point the direction of the investigation from that 222 00:12:52.240 --> 00:12:55.519 point forward. One of the reasons we were enjoying the 223 00:12:55.519 --> 00:12:58.720 safest there ever of commercial jet travel for nearly sixteen 224 00:12:58.799 --> 00:13:00.960 years from February of two, two thousand and nine, up 225 00:13:01.039 --> 00:13:04.159 until that DC crash is because the all star team 226 00:13:04.159 --> 00:13:06.799 of the National Transportation Safety Board and the job they 227 00:13:06.840 --> 00:13:10.360 do every accident near accident. They have a final report 228 00:13:10.440 --> 00:13:12.840 that they give the Federal Aviation Administration saying, here's our 229 00:13:12.879 --> 00:13:16.320 recommendations from what we've gleaned from this incident that we 230 00:13:16.360 --> 00:13:19.600 can implement to make the travel industry and the future 231 00:13:19.600 --> 00:13:23.639 of aviation safer. The problem is that that takes time, 232 00:13:23.879 --> 00:13:25.639 and this is a group that is not going to 233 00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:28.480 rush anything. They're really not going to make too many 234 00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:31.639 conclusive statements up front because so many things have to 235 00:13:31.639 --> 00:13:35.039 be checked and those things take time, and obviously there's 236 00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:38.080 a desire to learn more, and of course a lot 237 00:13:38.080 --> 00:13:41.320 of members of Congress was pushing the NTSB for them 238 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:46.679 to release information more quickly, and they simply pushed back 239 00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:48.919 and said, no, we can't, that's not how we do things. 240 00:13:49.240 --> 00:13:51.399 And this is a group that, again they're an all 241 00:13:51.399 --> 00:13:53.960 star team. They do an incredible job. They are the 242 00:13:54.039 --> 00:13:57.840 reason that we have seats that are as sturdy as 243 00:13:57.960 --> 00:13:59.919 they have right now that are rated up to six 244 00:14:00.039 --> 00:14:05.279 TEAMG force on crashes, the fire resistant material inside and aircraft. 245 00:14:05.559 --> 00:14:08.600 All of the different things that have made aviation safer 246 00:14:08.639 --> 00:14:10.840 over the last forty to fifty years has been a 247 00:14:10.840 --> 00:14:14.679 result of each accident or near accident investigation that we've had. 248 00:14:14.759 --> 00:14:18.679 So I'm totally okay with the pace of the investigation 249 00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:20.639 because I know that they have to check a lot. 250 00:14:20.759 --> 00:14:23.440 They're gonna be looking at the pilots, the training, the aircraft, 251 00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:26.799 the maintenance records. They go through a ton of information 252 00:14:27.320 --> 00:14:30.600 that takes a considerable amount of time and when they're finished, 253 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:33.480 we'll get that final report. And not before. 254 00:14:33.320 --> 00:14:35.279 iHeartRadio's aviation analysts joined us. 255 00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:38.879 We're talking about these recent incidents, whether it's the crash 256 00:14:38.919 --> 00:14:42.799 in DC, the medical jet in Philly, Toronto of course 257 00:14:42.840 --> 00:14:45.720 on Monday with a plane flipped over on landing, and 258 00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:49.200 a couple smaller planes in Scottsdale, and also in Marana, 259 00:14:49.240 --> 00:14:53.320 Arizona from yesterday. There's a lot that's going on in 260 00:14:53.399 --> 00:14:57.080 terms of discussions of cuts at the FAA, and according 261 00:14:57.080 --> 00:15:00.000 to Shan Duffy's Secretary of Transportation, there's about forty five 262 00:15:00.159 --> 00:15:04.039 thousand employees in the FAA, and that about four hundred 263 00:15:04.080 --> 00:15:08.600 of them were released last week. What's your concern You 264 00:15:08.720 --> 00:15:11.080 watched this industry for a long time. Do you have 265 00:15:11.240 --> 00:15:14.679 concern about what's going on in terms of cuts at 266 00:15:14.679 --> 00:15:15.320 the agency? 267 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:18.960 Had any of those four hundred been anything other than 268 00:15:19.080 --> 00:15:23.679 probationary employees, or had they been air traffic controllers, I 269 00:15:23.720 --> 00:15:28.200 would be very concerned. I agree that the optics do 270 00:15:28.320 --> 00:15:31.840 not look good. But the fact is that the President 271 00:15:31.879 --> 00:15:34.279 has made it clear that the Federal Aviation Administration is 272 00:15:34.320 --> 00:15:35.480 going to be a priority for him. 273 00:15:35.559 --> 00:15:35.720 Now. 274 00:15:35.720 --> 00:15:40.200 We have heard elected officials Congress, we've heard senators, we 275 00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:44.559 have heard presidents talk about how they need to support 276 00:15:44.639 --> 00:15:48.480 better the Federal Aviation Administration, and then nothing ever seems 277 00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:50.480 to happen. It's one of the reasons that we are 278 00:15:50.519 --> 00:15:55.399 fighting right now with the outdated technology that the Federal 279 00:15:55.440 --> 00:15:58.679 Aviation uses, some of it which is based on technology 280 00:15:58.679 --> 00:16:01.840 from fifty sixty seventy year years ago. We are way 281 00:16:01.879 --> 00:16:05.720 behind from a technology standpoint, and we desperately need to 282 00:16:05.720 --> 00:16:09.440 have it upgraded. Although the word upgrade is an insult 283 00:16:09.519 --> 00:16:12.440 to the word upgrade when you understand just how far 284 00:16:12.559 --> 00:16:16.159 behind the times we are from a technology standpoint. So 285 00:16:16.440 --> 00:16:18.840 the President is indicated he's going to push for even 286 00:16:18.840 --> 00:16:22.360 more air traffic controllers, updated technology, bringing in some of 287 00:16:22.399 --> 00:16:27.000 the SpaceX team texts to try to assist. And I 288 00:16:27.159 --> 00:16:29.759 like everything that I'm saying because I've been so frustrated 289 00:16:29.799 --> 00:16:33.600 over the years, decades really and seeing the FAA tend 290 00:16:33.600 --> 00:16:36.759 to get what money falls off the table versus a 291 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:40.559 concentrated effort on putting in the resources that we need. 292 00:16:40.679 --> 00:16:43.240 We're short of air traffic controllers, so why do we 293 00:16:43.279 --> 00:16:46.639 give them anything but the best in technology to make 294 00:16:46.679 --> 00:16:49.720 their job easier when they are in fact working over 295 00:16:49.759 --> 00:16:52.080 time and doing the job of one, two or three people. 296 00:16:52.679 --> 00:16:55.039 We need to upgrade the technology to make it easier 297 00:16:55.039 --> 00:16:57.879 for them. And I don't know where the promises are 298 00:16:57.919 --> 00:17:00.519 going to go, but we're pointing in the direction. That 299 00:17:00.600 --> 00:17:03.679 has me incredibly excited for the first time in a 300 00:17:03.720 --> 00:17:08.319 long time, because I'm frustrated that members of Congress and others, 301 00:17:08.799 --> 00:17:11.119 the elected officials we've had over the last five, ten, 302 00:17:11.240 --> 00:17:16.359 fifteen years, have done nothing to seriously upgrade the FAA's technology, 303 00:17:16.720 --> 00:17:20.200 and for them to point at President Trump suggesting that 304 00:17:20.519 --> 00:17:24.119 anything that has been ongoing is his fault. After three 305 00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:27.240 and a half to four weeks. I find laughable because 306 00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:30.240 those are the individuals that had an opportunity over an 307 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:33.240 extended period of time to do something and chose not to. 308 00:17:34.200 --> 00:17:35.839 So I had a question about that. 309 00:17:35.880 --> 00:17:37.839 I have a friend I actually was talking to him 310 00:17:37.880 --> 00:17:41.079 last night about the technology that exists. He flies seven 311 00:17:41.240 --> 00:17:44.640 thirty sevens. The technology in those airplanes now, especially the 312 00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:46.279 ones that have been built in the last couple of years, 313 00:17:46.759 --> 00:17:51.599 is incredible. I mean, just the amount of control that 314 00:17:51.640 --> 00:17:55.359 they have over these gigantic machines. How does that compare 315 00:17:55.519 --> 00:17:58.440 to what you're talking about the technology that exists in 316 00:17:58.519 --> 00:18:01.079 the control towers around the kind Well. 317 00:18:01.000 --> 00:18:04.880 When you're talking about something that's built by Boeing, air Bus, 318 00:18:05.519 --> 00:18:09.440 Bombardier and Brare, any of the aircraft manufacturers around the world. 319 00:18:09.839 --> 00:18:12.960 The pilots continually have the best of everything on the 320 00:18:12.960 --> 00:18:17.000 flight deck. They've got backups, and they've got redundant systems 321 00:18:17.000 --> 00:18:20.720 that are state of the art. They're constantly being updated 322 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:24.599 to allow us to have an increased level of safety. 323 00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:28.519 The problem is a lot of the computer support systems 324 00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:32.079 of technology that air traffic control uses for the air 325 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:37.359 traffic control system network is nowhere near state of the art. 326 00:18:37.720 --> 00:18:41.119 We've been talking about for decades how we tracked airplanes 327 00:18:41.559 --> 00:18:46.319 in this country using ground based radar. You can track 328 00:18:46.359 --> 00:18:48.680 a drug dealer on the corner of Fifth and Maine 329 00:18:48.759 --> 00:18:52.559 using his cell phone and satellites, but we're tracking aircraft 330 00:18:52.559 --> 00:18:55.759 across the country and we did this for decades using 331 00:18:56.119 --> 00:18:59.440 ground based radar. You know, when the Malaysian Airline flight 332 00:18:59.480 --> 00:19:02.440 went missing all those years ago, the world was shocked 333 00:19:02.640 --> 00:19:04.880 that there were parts of the world that we couldn't 334 00:19:04.920 --> 00:19:08.599 track these airplanes. Well, we weren't using satellite based systems. 335 00:19:08.640 --> 00:19:11.960 We were using line of sight, ground based radar to 336 00:19:12.079 --> 00:19:14.920 track aircraft. And given the curvature of the Earth, there 337 00:19:14.960 --> 00:19:17.680 were times that airplanes were flying outside of our ability 338 00:19:17.720 --> 00:19:20.920 to track them. That should never be the case, and 339 00:19:21.680 --> 00:19:23.880 we need to do everything that we can because to me, 340 00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:27.519 the aviation industry is an integral part to our nation's economy. 341 00:19:27.839 --> 00:19:30.359 We know that in the next ten to fifteen years 342 00:19:30.559 --> 00:19:32.799 the industry is going to double. We know that we 343 00:19:32.839 --> 00:19:37.799 do not have the technology and infrastructure now to meet today's demands, 344 00:19:37.839 --> 00:19:41.119 to say nothing of what's coming. So simply from an 345 00:19:41.160 --> 00:19:43.920 economic standpoint, we need to invest everything that we can 346 00:19:44.319 --> 00:19:46.960 in aviation right now so that we can take advantage 347 00:19:47.200 --> 00:19:51.160 of what's coming from an economic standpoint, and again I'm 348 00:19:51.200 --> 00:19:53.799 pleased that we seem to be headed in that direction. 349 00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:56.359 As the United States goes, so goes the rest of 350 00:19:56.400 --> 00:20:00.000 the world, especially when it comes to aviation technology aviation safety. 351 00:20:01.319 --> 00:20:06.680 If we begin this process and update those flight tracking systems, 352 00:20:06.720 --> 00:20:10.680 the air traffic control systems, everyone else has to follow suit, 353 00:20:10.720 --> 00:20:11.119 don't they. 354 00:20:11.680 --> 00:20:14.960 Yes, And it will make aviation safer around the world. 355 00:20:15.240 --> 00:20:18.279 And really that's what we need because up until the 356 00:20:19.039 --> 00:20:22.759 crash that we had there in DC, remember sixteen years 357 00:20:23.319 --> 00:20:27.200 of no major accidents here in the United States, the 358 00:20:27.279 --> 00:20:29.640 safest are era of commercial jet travel. And when you 359 00:20:30.799 --> 00:20:35.200 figure that, we've got nine million plus flights commercially speaking 360 00:20:35.200 --> 00:20:39.279 a year, and we went decades in half where we 361 00:20:39.359 --> 00:20:42.279 went all those times with all those flights, I mean, 362 00:20:42.480 --> 00:20:46.400 we've never seen that type of string before, and it 363 00:20:46.440 --> 00:20:49.240 was great to see. Now we have had three crashes 364 00:20:49.279 --> 00:20:52.200 where we've had the Alaska crash where ten lives were claimed. 365 00:20:52.200 --> 00:20:54.759 We don't know what happened there. We had the situation 366 00:20:54.880 --> 00:20:58.359 in DC where we had the helicopter crash to the 367 00:20:58.440 --> 00:21:01.440 regional jet, and then we have this situation with this 368 00:21:01.519 --> 00:21:05.200 third crash and fortunately no loss of life. But when 369 00:21:05.240 --> 00:21:07.799 you have that much happening in a short period of time, 370 00:21:08.200 --> 00:21:11.079 now people start paying attention to the general aviation crashes, 371 00:21:11.279 --> 00:21:14.400 and those happen sadly every week. We will tend to 372 00:21:14.480 --> 00:21:18.319 lose about ten people a week from general aviation accidents, 373 00:21:18.359 --> 00:21:20.839 as much as maybe four hundred and fifty to five 374 00:21:20.920 --> 00:21:24.079 hundred and fifty people a year that die in in 375 00:21:24.160 --> 00:21:28.160 the general aviation accidents. So when you have this focus 376 00:21:28.160 --> 00:21:30.640 where people all of a sudden are paying attention, they 377 00:21:30.720 --> 00:21:33.359 start noticing a lot of these general aviation accidents and 378 00:21:33.400 --> 00:21:36.079 they're thinking, oh my gosh, you know, what's happened to 379 00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:39.839 the aviation safety. Should I be concerned about flying? And 380 00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:43.519 my response to that is absolutely not. We still have 381 00:21:43.880 --> 00:21:48.960 the safest air traffic control network as far as from 382 00:21:49.000 --> 00:21:53.799 a safety standpoint, pilots, technology, mechanics, everything across the board 383 00:21:54.440 --> 00:21:56.400 than any of the place in the world. So I 384 00:21:56.440 --> 00:21:58.720 don't hesitate one bit to go to the airport and 385 00:21:58.799 --> 00:22:02.319 jump on an airplane knowing that these three different accidents 386 00:22:02.799 --> 00:22:06.480 probably had much different causes, and as a result, we'll 387 00:22:06.519 --> 00:22:08.920 find out what happened and we will honor the lives 388 00:22:08.960 --> 00:22:12.000 of those that were lost by making the necessary changes 389 00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:14.960 so that we can, as much as humanly possible, prevent 390 00:22:15.039 --> 00:22:17.079 those types of situations from happening. 391 00:22:17.079 --> 00:22:20.000 Again, excellent, all right, Jay, thank you for your time. 392 00:22:20.799 --> 00:22:24.680 Always my pleasure, Jay Rattlift there again. iHeartRadio's aviation analyst. 393 00:22:25.119 --> 00:22:30.079 Been analyzing airplanes aviation industry for thirty plus years. It's 394 00:22:30.200 --> 00:22:31.680 time for some strange science. 395 00:22:33.079 --> 00:22:42.799 Strange, it's like weird science, but strange. A couple of 396 00:22:42.799 --> 00:22:43.240 good ones. 397 00:22:43.279 --> 00:22:50.359 Today there was a beast, a newly identified basteton bastatodon, 398 00:22:51.359 --> 00:22:54.960 thought to have been a leopard sized dog, basically at 399 00:22:54.960 --> 00:22:56.920 the top of its food chain the same time that 400 00:22:56.960 --> 00:23:01.200 our ancestors were evolving from the monkiness. These findings, published 401 00:23:01.240 --> 00:23:06.039