FAA Chief Role Remains Vacant Amid Horrific Plane Crash After Elon Musk Pressured Previous Leader to Resign

The leader of the Federal Aviation Administration stepped down from his position mere months after billionaire Elon Musk demanded that he do so, meaning that the FAA is missing a chief in the aftermath of the worst aviation disaster in the US in years.

Michael Whitaker decided to step away from his role in the FAA, opting to quit before President Donald Trump officially took office, reported NPR. Whitaker only held the role for about a year, announcing his plans to step down from the position of FAA administrator in December. He stated he would resign on January 20, before the 47th President was sworn into office.

Musk called for Whitaker's resignation in September, taking to social media to encourage Whitaker to leave his position.

"He needs to resign," wrote Musk on X (formerly Twitter).

This followed Whitaker's calling for the implementation of fines upon Musk's company, SpaceX. $633,009 worth of penalties were proposed to be levied against SpaceX by the FAA under Whitaker due to the company's failure to follow its license requirements during two launches in 2023.

"Safety drives everything we do at the FAA, including a legal responsibility for the safety oversight of companies with commercial space transportation licenses," FAA Chief Counsel Marc Nichols had said of the fines. "Failure of a company to comply with the safety requirements will result in consequences."

However, Musk continued to attack the FAA, even accusing the body of harassment.

"The FAA space division is harassing SpaceX about nonsense that doesn't affect safety while giving a free pass to Boeing even after NASA concluded that their spacecraft was not safe enough to bring back the astronauts," Musk wrote to X.

"The@FAANews leadership spends their resources attacking @SpaceXfor petty matters that have nothing to do with safety, while neglecting real safety issues at Boeing. This is deeply wrong and puts human lives at risk," Musk continued.

Whitaker's decision to resign means the FAA has no Senate-confirmed leader to head the organization following the tragedy of a Black Hawk helicopter into an American Airlines commercial flight in Washington DC's airspace on Wednesday night, an incident many are saying is the worst aviation disaster to occur in the US since 9/11.

"The United States is the safest and most complex airspace in the world, and that is because of your commitment to the safety of the flying public," Whitaker told FAA staff in an email announcing his resignation in December. "As I reflect on my time with all of you, I appreciate how you continue to be aligned around our objective to keep the National Airspace System safe, and by the numerous accomplishments you have achieved this year in support of our safety mission."