(Reuters) - U.S. air traffic controllers will be offered the opportunity to stay past their mandatory retirement age of 56, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told Fox News on Thursday in the wake of the Washington plane crash.

The new secretary of transportation, Sean Duffy, appeared to walk back an enticement to retire, saying F.A.A. safety workers were exempt from the offer for federal workers.

Sean Duffy said that he’d spoken with Musk, calling him a “pretty remarkable guy” who has “access to the best technological people, the best engineers in the world.”

Air traffic controllers are exempt from a buyout offer President Trump’s administration introduced last week to nearly 2 million federal workers, including controllers. The clarification follows two deadly plane crashes,

The air traffic controllers union had asked for clarification on whether members were eligible for the federal buyout and only received confirmation from a report on CNN.

A viral post shared on X claims President Donald Trump fired multiple federal employees, including 3,000 air traffic controllers, ahead of a recent fatal crash between a Black Hawk helicopter and a commercial flight.