The Federal Aviation Administration recently changed its hiring practices by sacrificing merit for diversity, Tucker Carlson reported Friday.

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“At any one time there are 5,000 aircraft above the United States. On 9/11, air traffic controllers guided every one of them to a safe landing in a little over an hour. Go ahead and try that,” Carlson said. “It’s a job where a small mistake could lead instantly to the deaths of hundreds of people. Not surprisingly, the hiring standards for air traffic controllers were long among the most selective of all federal jobs.”

Carlson, co-founder of The Daily Caller, then pointed out that certain standards such as understanding science and math are drastically diluted in the new hiring process.

“Apparently unemployed people make the best air traffic controllers. This is demented, by the way, but it’s real. So do applicants who played a lot of sports in high school. They’re rewarded too. By contrast applicants who say they know a great deal about air traffic control get only five points. Trained pilots get two points,” Carlson said. “We asked the FAA’s top spokesman why applicants for an air traffic control job would get more points for high school sports than flying planes or knowing a lot about air traffic control. His response, quote, ‘I’m trying to find that out as well.'”

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