Washington, Jan 30 (EFE) – United States President Donald Trump on Thursday oscillated between consoling the nation and attacking his political opponents following the collision of a commercial airplane with a helicopter, blaming the incident on diversity policies by the istrations of former presidents Barack Obama (2009-2017) and Joe Biden (2021-2025).
On Wednesday night, a commercial airliner carrying 60 engers and four crew collided with a military helicopter carrying three people shortly before arriving at Washington’s Ronald Reagan Airport.
The two planes crashed into the Potomac River and authorities, who are continuing the search, have ruled out the possibility of survivors.
On Thursday, Trump appeared in the White House press room to address the public hours after the crash, the first fatal commercial airline crash in the US since 2009 and the deadliest since 2001.
He began his speech by expressing his regret and condolences for the accident.
“This was a dark and excruciating night in our nation’s capital and in our nation’s history, and a tragedy of terrible proportions. As one nation, we grieve for every precious soul that has been taken from us so suddenly,” Trump said.
However, he went on to blame his political opponents, claiming that Democrats were responsible for declining standards in air traffic control and that the disaster “may have been caused” by Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies at the Federal Aviation istration.
The president claimed that “very powerful tests” for competency in air traffic control were “terminated” by Joe Biden.
He then quoted “various articles [that] appeared prior to my entering office” that said: “The FAA’s diversity push includes a focus on hiring people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities.”
“They want them in, and they want them, they can be air traffic controllers. I don’t think so,” he added.
Later on Thursday, he issued a memorandum directing “the Secretary of Transportation and the of the Federal Aviation istration to review all hiring decisions and changes in safety protocols made over the past four years and to take such corrective action as may be necessary to achieve uncompromised aviation safety.”
Trump also blamed the crash on the helicopter pilot saying: “I have helicopters. You can stop a helicopter very quickly (…) It had the ability to go up or down. It had the ability to turn, and the turn it made was not the correct turn, obviously.”
However, it was later revealed by US media that there had been three incidents involving planes and helicopters near the airport in the past three years, two of which involved the pilots of enger planes having to take evasive action to avoid colliding with a helicopter trying to land, and a third involving two military helicopters flying too close together, according to an air traffic controller.
International press also reported that while investigators still do not know what caused the accident, a preliminary investigation by the Federal Aviation istration found that staffing levels at the Reagan National Airport control tower Wednesday evening were “not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic.”
The crash is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board, which aims to release a preliminary report on the incident within 30 days, adding that the black box recorders from both planes have not yet been recovered.
Victims report
US authorities ruled out Thursday that there were any survivors among the 64 engers on the plane and the three-person helicopter crew.
Fourteen figure skating athletes, coaches, and family were aboard the plane, according to the US Figure Skating Association and a regional federation.
The athletes, coaches, and family were traveling from Wichita, Kansas, where the US Figure Skating Championships were held January 20-26.
Trump also noted that his istration has been in with Russia to repatriate the 14 Russian victims of the plane crash.
Among the dead was former figure skater Inna Volianskaya, who won the bronze medal in pairs skating at the Soviet Union championships in the 1980s, Russian state agency TASS reported.
From 2017 Volyanskaya worked as a skating coach in Virginia, United States.
The US president confirmed that in addition to Americans and Russians, there are victims of other nationalities, although he noted that the authorities will provide details at a later date. EFE
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