US President Donald Trump blamed Democrats and their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies for the deaths of 67 people after a commercial jet and a military helicopter collided just outside Washington.
The president claimed he made a “common sense” assessment that Wednesday night’s crash was caused by lax safety standards resulting from DEI policies implemented by his predecessors. Federal accident investigators, however, stated it was too early to determine the cause of the collision.
During his first press briefing in the White House press briefing room on Thursday, Trump announced there were no survivors from the crash. The regional flight, operated by American Airlines subsidiary PSA Airlines, had departed from Wichita, Kansas. As the Bombardier CRJ700 jet approached Washington Reagan National Airport, it collided with a Sikorsky H-60 Black Hawk helicopter belonging to the US military and crashed into the Potomac River. The fuselage of the commercial jet was found in three pieces in the water.
There were 60 passengers and four crew members on board the American Airlines aircraft, along with three soldiers on the Black Hawk.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) stated it would issue a preliminary report within 30 days. The agency confirmed late Thursday that the jet’s voice and data recorders had been recovered, but the helicopter’s recorders were still in the water.
“We don’t have enough information to rule out or confirm human factors or mechanical factors,” Jennifer Homendy, the agency’s head, said early Thursday when asked about Trump’s speculation regarding the cause of the crash.
Speaking alongside his vice president and the newly sworn-in secretaries of defense and transportation, Trump began his remarks by calling for unity in a “moment of pain” when “differences between Americans are reduced to zero.”
However, Trump quickly shifted to a political attack on Democrats, asserting that former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden had lowered standards for those eligible to become air traffic controllers.
“I put safety first; Obama, Biden, and the Democrats put politics first… and their politics were worse,” Trump said. He added that he believed air traffic controllers should be the “brightest, smartest, sharpest, psychologically superior” individuals and expressed doubt about people with “severe disabilities” holding such positions.
After seemingly blaming air traffic controllers for the accident, Trump turned his attention to the Black Hawk crew. “You had a pilot problem in terms of the helicopter because it was clear ahead. It was very clear at night… The lights of the American Airlines plane were on. I have helicopters. You can stop a helicopter very quickly. The helicopter had the ability to go up or down, it had the ability to turn, and the turn it made was not a correct turn,” he said.
US defense officials stated the Black Hawk was flown by an experienced crew during routine training. Trump speculated whether the soldiers were using night vision equipment that could “alter your view” from the cockpit. A defense official could not confirm whether the crew was wearing night vision goggles.
Defense Minister Pete Hegseth said the three soldiers in the helicopter “were on routine one-year night flight training in a standard corridor for a continuity of government mission.” The soldiers included a young pilot, a sergeant major, and two adjutants.
“Tragically, a mistake was made last night… there was some kind of altitude issue that we immediately began investigating at the level of the Ministry of Defense and the military,” the minister said, calling the incident “absolutely unacceptable.”
Trump also mentioned that Russian citizens were on board the aircraft and that the US would facilitate the repatriation of their remains. Direct air travel between the US and Russia has been suspended since the Ukraine war began.
