With recent crashes, close calls and control center outages: is it getting more dangerous to fly, or are we just paying more attention? Also: do pilots have walkie-talkies? What’s on their cockpit screens? Do these 30-90 second blackouts at Newark Airport matter? And how few air traffic controllers are … too few? Nayeema asks the dumbest questions she could think of to the best-sourced reporter she could find: New York Times investigative journalist Kate Kelly. 

On the agenda: How does seeing how the sausage is made (or control towers are staffed) change Kate’s own travel plans? Who’s to blame for all this: Joe Biden, Donald Trump ... Ronald Reagan …the pandemic … or just: the system? And who’s gonna fix it?

Check out Kate’s reporting here.  And thanks to LiveATC for helping us dig up that pilot-air traffic controller audio!

Follow @smartgirldumbquestions on IG, TikTok & YouTube. You can find Nayeema on IG or X too. 

Finally: send YOUR dumb questions to [email protected]. You might end up in a future episode!

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