Trump confirms ‘no survivors’ from deadly air disaster
US President Donald Trump has confirmed there are “no survivors” from a deadly midair collision in Washington and has blamed “diversity” hiring policies for the crash.
The American Airlines jet with 64 people on board collided with a Black Hawk army helicopter carrying three as the plane was coming in to land at Reagan Washington National Airport on Thursday (AEDT).
The plane was found upside-down in three sections in waist-deep water in the Potomac River.
By Friday morning, at least 28 bodies had been retrieved from the icy river and a makeshift morgue was set up on the bank.
If no one survived, the collision would be the deadliest US air crash since the September 11 attacks of 2001.
Trump held a moment of silence at a media address and said it was “an hour of anguish for our nation”.
“Sadly there are no survivors,” he said.
He said the victims included Americans, Russians and people from other nationalities.
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It’s been reported that US and Russian figure skaters, coaches and their families were among those on board.
“As one nation, we grieve for every precious soul that has been taken from us so suddenly,” Trump said.
He went only baselessly blame “diversity” hiring policies in air traffic control for the crash. Trump also accused the previous Biden administration of imposing workplace policies that led to recruits with physical and psychological impairments.
“The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) is actively recruiting workers who suffer severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems, and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative spelled out on the agency’s website,” he said.
“Can you imagine?”
Trump has made sweeping away any policy aimed at supporting diversity and equality in the federal government a hallmark of his fledgling administration.
Asked how he could blame diversity, equity and inclusion hiring for the crash, Trump said, “because I have common sense”.
“We want brilliant people doing this,” he said.
He called former transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg, from the Biden administration, a “disaster”.
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Buttigieg responded on X that Trump was “despicable”.
“As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying. We put safety first, drove down close calls, grew Air Traffic Control, and had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights on our watch,” he wrote.
There was no immediate official word on the cause of the collision, but authorities said flight conditions were clear as the jet arrived from Wichita, Kansas.
It was preparing for a routine landing at the time of the collision.
“On final approach into Reagan National, it collided with a military aircraft on an otherwise normal approach,” American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said.
“At this time, we don’t know why the military aircraft came into the path of the… aircraft.”
Air traffic control audio recorded the chilling moments before and after the crash.
“Crash, crash, crash, this is an alert three,” one of the air traffic controllers is heard saying in the audio from about the time of the crash.
“I don’t know if you caught earlier what happened, but there was a collision on the approach into 33. We’re going to be shutting down operations for the indefinite future,” another controller said.
“Both the helicopter and the plane crashed in the river,” a third air traffic controller says.
“It was probably out in the middle of the river,” the controller said.
“I just saw a fireball and then it was just gone. I haven’t seen anything since they hit the river. But it was a CRJ (Canadair Regional Jet) and a helicopter that hit.”
The crash was caught on a webcam at the John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts in Washington.
The clip shows the aircraft exploding in flames and plummeting to earth after it is struck by the helicopter.
– with AAP
