U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said late on Thursday he will soon announce a plan to reform the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) after a devastating collision between an American Airlines regional plane and an Army helicopter killed 67 people.

While that office may be ready to go to work, the FAA itself is not fully on the job. That’s because it’s without an administrator. Michael Whitaker, who had led the administration since Oct., 2023, stepped down earlier this month,

The midair collision at Reagan National Airport on Wednesday night has presented Sean Duffy with a major crisis just hours after he was sworn in as secretary of transportation.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy echoed Trump’s remarks about diversity programs, saying “only the best brightest” should hold federal aviation jobs. “We will not accept excuses,” Duffy said. “We will not accept passing the buck.

A midair collision near D.C. has raised concerns over FAA staffing, prompting scrutiny of air traffic control and aviation safety oversight.

It appears that the first major air disaster in the U.S. since 2009 has occurred while the Federal Aviation Administration does not have a permanent leader.

Large volumes pose challenges to air traffic control, which has faced severe staffing shortages for years, according to experts.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had been sworn in just hours before the deadly midair collision of a plane and helicopter near Washington, D.C.

Get all the news you need in your inbox each morning. Federal aviation investigators vowed earlier in the day that they will find the cause of a horrific collision. NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said at a briefing that the agency wants to assure the American public it will "leave no stone unturned in this investigation .

Investigators recovered the so-called black boxes from the plane, an American Airlines Bombardier jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members, which collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River as it prepared to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday night.

The FAA, under the first Trump administration, also tried to increase the hiring of people with targeted disabilities.