*

Chris Rocheleau appointed acting FAA head after collision

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Trump criticizes diversity efforts, links them to crash

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FAA faces staffing shortages, impacting air traffic

control

(Adds Trump order, U.S. DOT comments in paragraphs 1-3)

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, Jan 30 (Reuters) - 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 ( AAL ) regional

plane and an Army helicopter killed 67 people.

"I am in the process of developing an initial plan to

fix the @FAANews. I hope to put it out very shortly," Duffy said

on X.

President Donald Trump

who has harshly criticized diversity efforts at the FAA

, directed an immediate assessment of aviation safety on

Thursday.

Earlier, Trump said he had appointed a former senior

aviation official as the acting head of the FAA - just one day

after the deadliest U.S. air disaster in more than 20 years.

The announcement came after an American Airlines ( AAL )

regional passenger jet collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk

helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River near Reagan

Washington National Airport.

Chris Rocheleau, a U.S. Air Force veteran who worked at the

FAA for more than 20 years, was previously chief operating

officer of the National Business Aviation Association. Sources

said Liam McKenna, who was the counsel to the Senate Commerce

Committee, has also been named chief counsel at the FAA.

Rocheleau has been at the FAA since last week, the sources

added.

Mike Whitaker, unanimously confirmed as the FAA

administrator in October 2023, stepped down early from his

five-year term on Jan. 20 when Trump took office and for 10 days

the FAA declined to say who was running the agency on an acting

basis. Trump has not yet named a permanent candidate to replace

Whitaker.

Trump suggested that efforts to boost diversity at the FAA

could have been a cause in the crash. At a White House press

conference, he harshly criticized Pete Buttigieg, who headed the

Transportation Department under President Joe Biden, saying,

"he's a disaster... He's run it right into the ground with his

diversity."

Buttigieg blasted Trump on social media, calling his

comments "despicable."

"As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying. We

put safety first, drove down close calls, grew Air Traffic

Control, and had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of

millions of flights on our watch," Buttigieg said.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer also criticized

Trump's comments.

"It's one thing for internet pundits to spew off

conspiracies, it's another for the President of the United

States to throw out idle speculation as bodies are still being

recovered," Schumer said.

Former aides to Buttigieg say the diversity policy cited by

Trump had been a long-standing policy and was in effect during

Trump's first term. Buttigieg could not immediately be reached

for comment.

"I am not blaming the controller," Trump added. He said he

did not know if diversity was to blame but vowed to investigate.

"So we don't know, but we do know that you had two planes at the

same level. You had a helicopter and a plane. That shouldn't

have happened."

The FAA is about 3,000 controllers behind staffing targets

and the agency said in 2023 it had 10,700 certified controllers,

about the same as a year earlier.

As well as dealing with the aftermath of the Washington

crash, Rocheleau will face key questions in his new role,

including when to allow Boeing ( BA ) to boost production of the

737 MAX after a mid-air emergency in January 2024.