Rossana D'Antonio - Our Only "Pilot Problem" Is Consistently Faulting Pilots

Expert on Downed Planes (and Sister to Deceased Pilot) Speaks Out on Airlines Accidents and Assigning Blame

LOS ANGELES , Jan. 31, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Accusations of pilot error benefit everyone in the aviation industry other than the pilot and... the truth. California-based engineer and aviation safety and infrastructure advocate Rossana D'Antonio is intimately familiar with claims of "pilot error" being bandied around after aircraft accidents, just as they are now with President Trump's declaration that Thursday's fatal collision over the Potomac was due in part to "a pilot problem."

In 2008, D'Antonio's brother Cesare, a pilot for the now-defunct South- and Central American-based TACA Airlines, was the pilot in a fatal accident that left him dead-on-impact when tropical storm conditions and unattended issues at Honduras's notoriously difficult Toncontín Airport led to the plane overshooting the runway.

For years after the accident, D'Antonio—who, as an engineer, is committed to protecting and safeguarding the welfare of the public by ensuring safe infrastructures—dedicated herself to researching and analyzing Cesare's crash, and many other aviation accidents and coverups, in order to find reasons beyond just the accepted "pilot error." 

Since then, D'Antonio has continued her passionate outreach on behalf of airline safety, and in 2024 went to DC to talk to legislators to help pass the FAA Reauthorization Bill for aviation safety and infrastructure. A book about her research and personal experiences, 26 Seconds: Grief and Blame in the Aftermath of Losing My Brother in a Plane Crash will be released on May 13, 2025.

"For pilots," writes D'Antonio, "a legacy can be built or destroyed in a few final seconds." The book, part memoir & part exposé, also delves into other airline accidents, including 2005's Southwest Flight 1248; Sully Sullenberger's "Miracle on the Hudson" in 2009 and 2009's Continental Connection Flight 3407; 2018's Lion Air Flight 610; and 2019's Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302; as well as the continued Boeing whistleblowing.

D'Antonio is available to provide expert insight from her research on the common, though harmful, occurrence of faulting pilots as well as her perspective as someone personally affected by a fatal plane crash and the tendency to blame pilots.

To get in touch with Rossana D'Antonio, set up an interview, or learn more about her book, please contact her publicists at Mindbuck Media.

PUBLICITY CONTACT: EMILY KEOUGH
MINDBUCK MEDIA BOOK PUBLICITY
[email protected]

SOURCE Rossana D'Antonio