Ben Bryan

@aakashgupta Do firetrucks show up on radar?

The air traffic controller cleared the fire truck onto the runway. Seconds later, the same controller screamed “stop, stop, stop.” The plane was doing 93 to 105 mph. Both pilots are dead. Everyone will frame this as controller error. One controller was simultaneously managing a United flight that aborted takeoff after an anti-ice warning, dispatching a fire truck across an active runway, and sequencing an inbound Air Canada landing at highway speed. At 11:40 PM. On a mandatory overtime shift at a facility that has been understaffed for years. A system that assigns one person that workload will produce exactly this outcome. The only variable is when. The FAA is short approximately 3,000 controllers. The headcount dropped 13% from 2010 to 2024 while flight volume rose 10%. Over 40% of the FAA’s 290 terminal facilities are understaffed. The New York TRACON, which manages the most congested airspace in America across LaGuardia, JFK, and Newark, has been chronically below target. Newark was operating at 59% of its staffing goal. LaGuardia handles 900 flights a day. The hiring pipeline is broken at every stage. Only 2% of applicants complete the full process. Training takes up to 6 years. The FAA Academy in Oklahoma City is a bottleneck, with roughly 35% of trainees washing out. Congress blocked legislation to build a second academy. In one recent hiring cycle, the FAA brought on 1,512 candidates and lost 1,300 in the same window. Net gain: around 160 controllers for an entire country. Three things need to happen and everyone who can make them happen has known for years. Congress needs to fund and authorize a second FAA training academy. One facility in Oklahoma City cannot produce enough controllers for 900 million annual passengers. Members of Congress from Oklahoma have actively blocked this. That needs to end yesterday. The FAA needs to cut certification time. Six years from application to fully certified controller is absurd. The agency’s own data shows tower simulators reduce certification time by 27%. They’ve installed them at 95 facilities. That should be every facility, and the simulated hours should count toward more of the certification requirement. The FAA needs to stop plugging staffing gaps with mandatory overtime. Controllers at understaffed facilities are working six-day weeks rotating between morning, mid, and night shifts. The NTSB has flagged fatigue repeatedly. The controller last night was managing overlapping emergencies during a nighttime operation. Overtime is not a staffing plan. It’s a countdown to the next runway collision. The controller said “I messed up” to a Frontier pilot who watched the whole thing. The pilot responded “No man, you did the best you could.” One of them is right. The answer determines whether this happens again.

@Notwokenow @BeautifulBill He pees sitting down

This is William Earl, @BeautifulBill, the absolute PIECE OF SHIT who wrote this disgusting article about the late Chuck Norris. Obviously this pathetic excuse for a man has no idea what it means to be either a masculine man, or a man of character and principle. What a pudgy loser.

@mmpadellan You and your party ignored the downfall of Biden’s health right to the end so you have no leg to stand on this topic. Sorry I don’t make the rules.

WATCH old, dilapidated, frail, fragile and weak trump, gingerly clinging to the railing as he plods slowly down the stairs, afraid he'll fall. And then check out cool, smooth Obama. 😎

@RensingTrades The Fair Tax!

I honestly believe we should get rid of the IRS and just go to a consumption tax The more you buy, the more you spend, the more tax you pay! What do you think?

@karlykingsley It was a dumb question!

MAGA not understanding why Trump’s Pearl Harbor “joke”wasn’t funny sums it up. It was a disrespectful, embarrassing display of ignorance on a global stage. Japan is appalled, our allies are mortified, the international press is mocking us. MAGA thinks this is “winning.” It’s not

@StephenKing Laughable. Twitter was a POS till then. Shareholders were lucky the takeout happened. He over paid!

A jury in California found that Elon Musk misled Twitter investors in the runup to his $44 billion purchase of the social media company.

@GigaBeers Yeah good luck

Ask Bernie

@TiffanyxFong Nagging. Don’t nag!

@GuntherEagleman That’s great. Easier to identify.

They should try shaving their armpits.

@Hunter_Eagleman Common man

“Where am I?” 🤣

@DrNeilStone I think I’d put combustion engine over it

Vaccines are one of the greatest achievements in human history Period

@chefsevenn Meatballs

What’s a good side dish for lasagna?

@em_Lazzy You mean like property taxes, mortgage, car payment and cell phone?

You know what really bugs me these days? We can't own anything. Everything is a subscription service, like literally everything. You can't buy Microsoft Office, you have to purchase a subscription for a year. You literally have to pay for everything FOREVER. Isn't anyone else bothered by this?

@elonmusk Well spent apparently - why not just write them a check?

Wow

@elonmusk When were the watchable?

Oscars have become unwatchable

@MamdaniWatch Never took economics or sociology I guess

@GovSherrillNJ Now fix the overhead wires and dig the damn tunnel

The new Portal North Bridge is up and running! We promised to deliver a reliable, faster ride by March 15 – and we’re delivering. Starting this Monday, trains out of New York City will travel over this new bridge. The old bridge, which more than 200,000 commuters relied on daily, will be phased out by fall. Thank all the laborers, engineers, electrical workers, crews from @NJTRANSIT, @Amtrak, and more – who showed up every day, rain and shine, to deliver this project on time for passengers.

@TheChiefNerd Maybe they should have an exit tax and make it illegal to leave like the grocery stores in Seattle

🚨 Zohran Mamdani Says Raising Taxes on the Rich Will Stop People From Leaving NYC “We already see an exodus of working and middle class New Yorkers. So I don't have a hesitation in asking those who make the most amount of money … to pay a little bit more so that everyone can actually stay in this city.”

@TheChiefNerd Maybe manage the expenses

@BellaBaddie__ Led Zeppelin 4

If someone offered you $1,000,000 to listen to one album for 48 hours straight, which album are you choosing ?