If I was s flight controller and the guy who made this mistake was jailed or charged with wrong doing while not getting paid, I would not return to work. That’s beyond fucked up. If the government shuts down they should shutdown the airports too if the controllers are not getting paid. This death falls squarely on the orange turd. Auto correct suggested turd after I typed orange. That’s the first time autocorrect has done something good on my phone.

the controller will likely face charges

Incorrect. Charges are generally filed in cases of intoxication, intentional sabotage, or willful and flagrant violation of safety protocols, none of which appeared to happen here. It’s already known he was working two frequencies (although it was middle of the night) and dealing with an emergency aircraft on the ground - overworked rather than negligent.

It is likely for there to be a civil case from families impacted. However, while they would probably file suit against the controller among other entities, federal law means that liability goes to the federal government. It seems quite possible that there will be liability found, and it will probably be primarily the feds who end up paying any judgements.

The FAA isn’t shutdown, just DHS. But these folks are way over worked and belittled by our current administration.

They attempted to stop the truck after realizing the error, but the truck didnt respond.