WH says oversight of Boeing should reassure Americans, but won’t say if Biden thinks it’s safe to fly on company’s planes
CNN
The White House on Friday said federal regulators are doing everything they can to assuage Americans’ anxieties about flying after several notable mishaps on Boeing planes.
The White House on Friday said federal regulators are doing everything they can to assuage Americans’ anxieties about flying after notable recent mishaps on Boeing planes. But asked directly whether President Joe Biden thinks it’s safe to fly, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre sidestepped. “I think what he – I think what Americans should know is that (the Federal Aviation Administration) is doing everything that it can to make sure that Americans feel safe,” Jean-Pierre told reporters during a press briefing Friday. She added that the FAA is taking actions “to make sure that there is increased safety oversight of Boeing and that’s what the American people should feel reassured by.” Her comments came after several scary incidents involving planes manufactured by Boeing, including the terrifying plunge earlier this week involving a Latam Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner flight from Australia to New Zealand. The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that a flight attendant may have inadvertently hit a switch on the pilot’s seat while serving a meal, pushing the pilot into controls that altered the plane’s flight, injuring dozens of passengers. CNN has yet to be able to confirm the Journal’s report.
Tulsi Gabbard, Donald Trump’s pick to lead the intelligence community, was briefly placed on a Transportation Security Administration list that prompts additional security screening before flights after her overseas travel patterns and foreign connections triggered a government algorithm earlier this year, three sources familiar with the matter told CNN.