Questions swirled in Washington on Thursday as the Federal Aviation Administration began its investigation of the Reagan airport crash without a permanent leader – its former chief resigned 10 days ago, after Elon Musk, the SpaceX CEO and close adviser to Donald Trump, called for him to quit.

Michael Whitaker, a 30-year aviation industry veteran, was unanimously confirmed as FAA administrator by the Senate in October 2023. He resigned last Monday, the day Trump was inaugurated as president.

On Wednesday night, a military Black Hawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines jet. On Thursday, as bodies were removed from the Potomac River, officials said all 67 people onboard the two aircraft were dead.

When Trump’s new secretary of transportation, Sean Duffy, was asked, “Is there an acting FAA director?” he walked away from reporters.

Trump named Chris Rocheleau, who had a long career with the FAA after joining it in 1996, as acting FAA administrator until a permanent choice is confirmed by the Senate.

The National Business Aviation Association, which Rocheleau led before returning to the FAA, hailed “an outstanding leader who will be good for the FAA, good for aviation and good for the country, especially at this challenging time”.

Rocheleau was reported to be back at the FAA last week. But according to Reuters, “the FAA for 10 days has declined to say who was running the agency on an acting basis.”

On Thursday, Musk’s clashes with the FAA and Whitaker were back in the headlines.

Musk’s anger grew from commercial interests including competition with Boeing for government contracts. In 2022, the FAA fined Starlink, a SpaceX subsidiary, for violations of safety protocol. Musk also said the agency needed “radical reform” and complained that it was “harassing SpaceX”.

In September 2024, Whitaker proposed fines of more than $600,000 for SpaceX, over alleged violations of its government license in two rocket launches.

Musk, the world’s richest person, worth more than $400bn, said: “He needs to resign.”

Whitaker might have agreed with Musk about the need for FAA reform, as he confronted challenges including run-down facilities and staff shortages contributing to a morale crisis among air traffic controllers.

But in December, after Trump defeated Joe Biden, Whitaker said he would quit.

He told staff: “As I conclude my time at the FAA, my confidence in you to meet our safety mission has never been stronger.”

The Reagan airport crash was the first major air disaster in the US since 2009.

Addressing reporters, Trump blamed the crash on his political enemies, and on diversity, equity and inclusion policies at the FAA.

Chris Murphy, the Democratic senator from Connecticut, called those remarks “disgusting”.

Saying it would take time to find out why the crash happened, Murphy added: “There are some true things: President Trump forced out of office the administrator of the FAA. He’s been waging a regular assault on public employees since he came into office. He forced the entire Aviation Security [Advisory Committee] to step down.

“We don’t know whether those things had anything to do with this crash, but we should take the time to get to the facts.”