President Trump said Friday that the military aircraft involved in Wednesday night’s deadly midair accident near Washington, D.C., was “flying too high.”
“The Blackhawk helicopter was flying way too high. It was much above the 200-foot limit. That’s not that difficult to grasp, is it??? Trump posted on Truth Social.
More than 60 people were killed when a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed with an American Airlines flight during final approach at Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia.
According to four persons briefed on the situation, the chopper was meant to be flying lower to the ground when it crashed. According to the Times, the chopper requested authorization to utilize a route that would have limited its altitude to 200 feet.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Pentagon are looking into the cause of the disaster.
In the days following the tragedy, Trump has vacillated between alleging the helicopter was to blame and suggesting diversity initiatives in selecting air traffic controllers may have played a part.
“The people in the helicopter should have seen where they were going,” Trump told reporters on Thursday at the White House. “What was the helicopter doing on that track?” Very sad. But optically, someone should have been able to notice and removed that aircraft from the equation, and they should have been at a different height.”
However, Trump has often claimed without evidence that attempts to hire diverse persons, including those with impairments, have undermined federal aviation safety.
“We seek individuals of the highest competence, regardless of color. “If they don’t have a great brain, a great brain power, they won’t be very good at what they do,” he stated.
In response to the tragedy, the president signed a memo on Thursday to terminate diversity, equality, and inclusion standards in the aviation sector and examine airline safety, as well as an executive order to designate a new head of the Federal Aviation Administration.
