The Federal Aviation Administration is facing its first major aviation disaster in 16 years without a leader because Elon Musk helped push him out.

Michael Whitaker stepped down as FAA administrator on January 20th, the day of Donald Trump’s inauguration, after clashing with Elon Musk, whose company SpaceX is regulated by the agency. Musk publicly called on Whitaker to resign after the FAA fined SpaceX for failing to get approval for launch changes. And now the power vacuum at the agency is coming into sharp focus after an Army helicopter collided with an American Airlines jet Wednesday evening in Washington, DC, killing everyone on board.

At a press conference Thursday with rescue officials, newly confirmed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy ignored reporters’ questions about whether the FAA had an acting director in place to help manage the crisis.