Last night, an American Airlines commuter plane collided with an Army helicopter near Reagan National Airport in Washington DC, sending both aircraft into the Potomac River.

It now appears that 67 people lost their lives in this horrific accident. Rescuers have found nearly 30 bodies so far, but no survivors.

No one knows yet exactly what caused this disaster to happen. Investigations will take place, most likely led by the NTSB, to understand what went wrong in this incident and how to prevent a disaster like this from happening again.

But amidst the sorrow and the loss, we can’t lose sight of what went right last night.

All responsible government agencies—including those from the federal government, the states of Virginia and Maryland, the District of Columbia, local fire and emergency crew, divers, and others—jumped into action almost immediately. Some of these first responders spent the night combing the murky Potomac waters searching for survivors, and then eventually recovering bodies of the victims.

That’s because, despite what you may hear on the news, for the most part, the government in the US really does work. The mail gets delivered on time, our food is safe, our drugs are regulated and, for the most part, planes takeoff and land safely (This was the first fatal commercial airline accident in 16 years.).

There’s great enthusiasm in Washington right now for dramatically rethinking government operations.

Could some operations be handled more efficiently? Absolutely. Could some processes and procedures be streamlined or eliminated? Quite likely. Does the whole system need to be torn apart and rebuilt from the ground up? Absolutely not.

How many of the people who jumped into action last night to help—as well as those who dropped everything to help fight wildfires in Los Angeles and provide relief to hurricane victims in North Carolina—are in danger of losing their jobs due to government “efficiency” initiatives? How many local government agencies and non-profit organizations had their funding temporarily frozen this week for no good reason?

Breaking the whole system because it doesn’t work perfectly would be akin to closing the runways because two aircraft wound up in the drink instead. That approach just doesn’t fly.

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