Official Gov’t X Posts Spur Confusion About Philadelphia Plane Crash
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and the FAA gave differing info on the number of passengers.
Rachel Wisniewski/REUTERS
Two U.S. government social media accounts made near-simultaneous posts containing contradictory information about a plane crash in Philadelphia on Friday night, leading to confusion about what had actually transpired. At 7:47 p.m. EST, the Federal Aviation Administration wrote that two people were on board the aircraft that had taken off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport and was bound for Missouri. Two minutes later, though, transportation secretary Sean Duffy wrote that “there were reportedly 6 people on board.” It wasn’t until nearly an hour later that the FAA posted an update confirming the number of passengers was indeed six. The FAA, which is already tasked with investigating Wednesday’s airplane-helicopter collision in Washington, D.C., is currently without a Senate-confirmed administrator. The previous holder, Michael Whitaker, resigned once Donald Trump took office due to threats of a lawsuit by Elon Musk after Whitaker proposed fining Musk’s company, SpaceX, for allegedly failing to comply with safety requirements.
See more of our coverage in your search results.
Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.
Register below to read this article for free or subscribe
to unlock unlimited access to The Daily Beast.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Already have an account? Sign In
Looks like you already have a subscription!
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.