Former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg slammed the new Trump administration for spending time re-implementing gendered language at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) instead of air safety in the aftermath of the first major commercial air crash in 16 years.Buttigieg shared a screenshot of a post by CNN reporter Pete Muntean that showed a memo from the FAA saying that the term NOTAM would now refer to Notice to Airmen instead of Notice to Air Missions. Muntean noted that the meaning of the term NOTAM was changed to Missions in 2021 under President Joe Biden. Related Conservatives are now blaming the DC crash on a trans woman who had nothing to do with it So after promising to focus on safety, theyve gotten right down to work on gender terminology? Buttigieg wrote in a post on Bluesky. Insights for the LGBTQ+ community Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more. Subscribe to our Newsletter today So after promising to focus on safety, theyve gotten right down to work on gender terminology?[image or embed] Pete Buttigieg (@petebuttigieg.bsky.social) February 11, 2025 at 1:14 AMThe U.S. had not had any commercial plane crash fatalities in 16 years until last night, when a military helicopter collided with American Eagle Flight 5342 near Reagan National Airport on January 29. Over 67 people on the helicopter and the plane died that day. Buttigiegs replacement Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, a former Fox News host and reality TV personality blamed the FAAs focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion when discussing air safety in the aftermath of the American Airlines crash and a medical plane crashing in Pennsylvania, killing seven people.You cant focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion when you try to hire air traffic controllers, you focus on the best and brightest, he said. I mean, again, some people like me like to have this conversation around equity. But if its your pilots or if its your air traffic controllers, you want the best. You want the brightest protecting yourself and your family. Thats what were going to do with the department.At least three more planes have crashed since Duffy made that statement, including a small plane veering off the runway in Arizona and crashing into another plane, killing at least one person; a commuter flight in Alaska that crashed and killed 10 people; and a plane that sliced through another while taxiing at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Donald Trump also blamed diversity in the immediate aftermath of the crash without even knowing anything about the people who were involved.I have common sense, and unfortunately, a lot of people dont, he said when pressed about how he could know that diversity was to blame here when the investigation has barely started.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.