Pete Hegseth's comment: A mistake was made.

[Baitball Blogger]

I guess that means that everyone was a white male.

I heard what the controller said. It sounds like he took the black hawk pilot's word that he saw the plane.

So, I'm guessing the mistake was with the black hawk pilot, maybe mistaking the lights.

[Ocelot II]

1. Duh.

Of course a mistake was made or there wouldn't have been a collision, and now they're looking for a "DEI hire" to blame it on.

[RandomNumbers]

10. WAS a mistake made?

From what I read, it was on the helicopter pilot to be aware of the airplane and avoid it.

Perhaps the chopper pilot did make a mistake. This was such a terrible accident, I hope for everyone's sake that it came down to a mistake, but that does not take away the suffering caused by the loss of these innocent passengers.

It did occur to me - and this is PURE speculation, BUT - was there any chance the helo pilot was suicidal? It's not like suicidal pilots have never taken innocents with them. (I REPEAT : this is SPECULATION. That is all. But it would lead to some other questions, obviously.)

[Igel]

21. Most likely, "mistake."

"Suicide with a side of 60" requires a bit of evidence.

(And somewhere in the back of my brain a neuron stirred and said, "Let his surname not begin with Al-.&quot

[Eugene]

31. Simpler explanation: helo pilot saw and avoided the wrong plane in a crowded airspace.

Something like that happened before.

There were two airliners on final approach, one right behind the other.
The CRJ's lights blending into background city lights may also
have been a factor. Other reports say the Army pilots were training
with night vision googles. A mistake was made, an apparently
easy one to make, as there was a near miss there a day earlier.

[RainCaster]

2. Here's a guy who doesn't give a shit

He has his own concerns, and none of those relate to the 8,000,000 people who report to him.

[Wiz Imp]

3. 8,000,000?

[RainCaster]

12. Yes, that's the size of the DoD

Quite a large jump in responsibility for a drunk who never managed a group larger than a platoon at any point in his life.

[Wiz Imp]

15. No it's not. I'm not sure where you got that number from.

As of November 2022, the department has over 1.4 million active-duty uniformed personnel in the five armed services. It also supervises over 778,000 National Guard and reservist personnel, and over 747,000 civilians, bringing the total to over 2.91 million employees.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Defense#:~:text=As%20of%20November%202022%2C%20the,to%20over%202.91%20million%20employees.

[ProfessorGAC]

16. Not According To This

United States Department of Defense
Agency overview
Headquarters The Pentagon Arlington County, Virginia, U.S. 38°52′16″N 77°3′21″W
Employees 789,594 (civilian) 1,294,191 (active duty military) 761,601 (National Guard and reserve) 2,845,386 total (June 30, 2024)
Annual budget $842 billion FY2024

Maybe the 8 million includes all the private industry contractor employees, but direct DoD employment is around 35% of that.
Still huge, and doesn't change your main point about Hegseth.

[RainCaster]

18. You're right

I'm not sure where I picked up that number, but it's off by quite a bit. Thanks for the update.

[Nixie]

22. Exactly. And why isn't the press asking him constantly

about his sobriety. Just bringing it up constantly reminds people of his drinking problems. That’s what they do when they want to drag someone. It’s time for the same treatment.

[NH Ethylene]

26. No need for a breathalyzer; He promised to stop drinking if confirmed.

[Klarkashton]

4. Of course there is no discussion about why

Nighttime training flights are carried out in close proximity of the takeoff and landing field of a super busy commercial airport.
What sort of dimwit makes these kind decisions?

Honest to God with this shit.

[BOSSHOG]

11. One explanation I heard this evening

Is that flyers have to train in the environment they will be operating. Just sharing what I heard. On CBS News.

[Klarkashton]

13. And use the general public as guinea pigs.

What insanity.

[arthritisR_US]

30. What Bosshog said was correct so your government is the issue.

[Nixie]

23. Plus the speculation of the helo training with night googles.

Why do that by the busiest airport. It’s so ridiculous.

[Klarkashton]

24. It's utterly irresponsible and stupid.

Rolling the fucking dice. Weaving in and out of commercial American aircraft.
It's a big stand tall coverup right now but it won't last. There are asshole cowboys that are going to burn for this shit.

[NH Ethylene]

27. That's probably the 'mistake' that was made.

It may all boil down to night goggles.

[Lovie777]

5. And our military effing assholes........

[obamanut2012]

7. The helo crew chief was a white male

Another pilot also was, no info on the third yet, some backchatter it's a woman.

[Baitball Blogger]

8. Let's hope not.

But if it is, I don't see where the controller was at fault.

[C_U_L8R]

9. His next comment...

Where's the happy hour?

[BootinUp]

14. Hovering at that height directly in the flight path

Of planes landing on runway. Pretty bad.

[vapor2]

17. THE MISTAKE THAT WAS MADE

WAS YOUR NOMINATION

[raccoon]

32. Amen!

[Rebl2]

19. Wow

He’s brilliant-NOT🙄

[CoopersDad]

20. Mistakes? Military practice flights should steer clear of commercial airports.

This is my primary takeaway from the tragedy.

[Initech]

25. You're the mistake, Pete.

Fuck you and your boss!

[Dave Bowman]

28. The mistake was his parents having sex that night.

[RainCaster]

29. an obvious DUI hire

I shake my head in disbelief.