How long before DEI programs in our nation's airlines get a lot of people killed?

What is going on in the air and at our nation’s airports? If it seems like there has been a significant increase in the number of incidents, close calls, and near misses, you’re not imagining it. In fact, last week alone, there were five separate incidents involving passenger aircraft in the United States. United Airlines seems to be at the forefront of the recent incidents. 

On Friday, a United Airlines 737 skidded off the runway at Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas, causing the landing gear to collapse. The incident happened shortly after 8 a.m. after the aircraft had landed. The flight left Memphis International Airport with 160 passengers and six crew members onboard. Nobody aboard the aircraft was injured, NBC News reported. 

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating that accident and will be assisted by the National Transportation Security Board. 

In what could have been a deadly event, another United Airlines flight, a Boeing 777, had a wheel come off shortly after taking off from San Francisco International Airport last Thursday. Shocking video showed the moment that happened. Fortunately, the wheel landed in a parking lot near the airport, demolishing two cars parked in a parking lot, according to ZeroHedge. 

In that incident, the flight crew didn’t know they lost a wheel until they were notified by air traffic control. The outlet reported that the aircraft was headed to Japan with 249 souls on board. The 777-200 has six tires on each of its main landing gear struts. United Airlines told Bloomberg in a statement that “the aircraft is designed to land safely with missing or damaged tires.” The plane diverted to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), where it landed safely. 

On Wednesday, yet another United Airlines flight suffered an inflight malfunction of one of its engines shortly after takeoff, again from Houston. The Boeing 737 was en route to Fort Myers, Florida, when an engine fire erupted shortly after takeoff. The aircraft returned to Houston, where it made an emergency landing. Again, no passengers or crew were injured in that incident, in which a passenger onboard the aircraft captured dramatic footage of the engine fire. 

An aircraft passenger told ABC-13 that the plane was “nosediving, and the pilot was bringing the plane back up.” 

Another passenger, David Gruninger, told the outlet: 

“I remember there was just this bright, flashing light that came through the window, and it sounded like a bomb went off, and then it was just a strobe of fire out the window. 

“And then it just turned into chaos. People were screaming and crying and trying to figure out what was going on,” Gruninger said. 

A radio transmission from the flight crew told air traffic controllers that “our left engine, our number one engine,” experienced an issue while climbing through 10,000 feet. 

Also last week, an American Airlines 777 being pushed back from a gate at Miami International Airport struck a Frontier Airlines Airbus A-320 at the gate. Both flights were delayed, and both aircraft were taken out of service.

Airlines, in particular, have been notable participants in so-called DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) efforts, with all major carriers in the U.S. being loud and proud participants in such efforts. In the case of the above incidents, all the involved airlines have heavily promoted their DEI programs. 

Did DEI have anything to do with these incidents? That is unknown, but quality is bound to suffer when you qualify people based on trying to meet specific quotas. Instead of hiring the best and brightest, more qualified individuals who don’t check a particular box on a DEI form are passed over to help companies, in this case airlines, suck up to the government. 

Such short-sighted programs risk the safety and welfare of both the flying public and those on the ground.