The aviation community is addressing the recent mid-air collision in Washington D.C. that resulted in 67 fatalities. Aviation instructors from Arizona are emphasizing the importance of safety and training in preventing such incidents, as reported by AZFamily.
Kyle Wilkerson, Assistant Professor at Embry-Riddle, emphasized that "Safety is the top priority" in aviation and assured that students are thoroughly prepared through simulations. Despite a shortage of air traffic controllers, he praised the controllers at major airports like Reagan National, stating, "They're extremely experienced controllers, hands down." Flight instructor Devin Starr stated that Phoenix's airspace is safer, saying, "Just in my opinion, I feel like Phoenix is probably safer just because of the way it’s designed. Everything is kind of straight in, straight out," according to ABC15 and AZFamily.
Following the fatal collision, aviation experts like Starr and Wilkerson emphasized the urgency of reacting quickly in air crises, noting that "You have seconds once you realize that you’re on a collision course to react." Starr discussed the safety systems for sharing airspace with military exercises, such as those from Luke Air Force Base, and said, "So they will do what they can to - to try and fix this and make sure that this isn't a possibility again." Both experts agree that the industry must learn from the tragedy and improve safety. Starr added, "If anything, it’s less likely to happen now that a hole has been exposed in the safety net," as stated by ABC15.
