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Donald Trump blames Democrats and DEI for deadly Washington mid-air collision


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Donald Trump blamed Democrats and variety, fairness and inclusion insurance policies for a collision between a industrial jet and army helicopter that killed 67 individuals simply outdoors of Washington.

With out citing proof, the president stated that his “widespread sense” evaluation was that the accident was brought on by lax security requirements because of DEI insurance policies launched by his predecessors.

“There are not any survivors,” Trump instructed reporters on Thursday as he took to the rostrum within the White Home press briefing room for the primary time in his second presidency.

The regional American Airways flight, which was operated by its subsidiary PSA Airways, had originated in Wichita, Kansas. The Bombardier CRJ700 jet was making its method into Washington Reagan Nationwide Airport on Wednesday night time when it collided with a US military Sikorsky H-60 Black Hawk helicopter, plunging into the Potomac River.

The fuselage of the industrial jet was present in three items within the water. The American flight had 60 passengers and 4 crew members on board, whereas three troopers had been within the Black Hawk.

Trump, who was flanked by his vice-president and newly sworn in secretaries of defence and transportation, started his remarks with an attraction for unity in “a second of anguish”, when “the variations between Individuals fade to nothing”.

However he rapidly launched right into a political assault in opposition to Democrats, saying that ex-presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden had lowered requirements for who was allowed to qualify to be an air site visitors controller.

“I put security first, Obama, Biden and the Democrats put coverage first . . . and their politics was even worse.”

He stated that “for an air site visitors controller, we would like the brightest, the neatest, the sharpest. We would like someone that’s psychologically superior,” including that “I don’t assume” individuals with “extreme disabilities” needs to be air site visitors controllers.

After showing accountable air site visitors controllers for the accident, he then turned his consideration to the crew of the Black Hawk.

“You had a pilot drawback from the standpoint of the helicopter, as a result of it was visible. It was very clear night time . . . the American Airways airplane had lights blazing”, Trump stated.

“I’ve helicopters. You may cease a helicopter in a short time. It had the flexibility to go up or down, had the flexibility to show, and the flip it made was not the proper one”, he added.

Map of Washington, DC, showing the approximate crash site of an American Airlines passenger flight and a Black Hawk military helicopter in the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport

US defence officers stated the Black Hawk was being flown by an skilled crew on routine coaching.

Trump stated that investigators had been making an attempt to find out whether or not the troops had been utilizing night time imaginative and prescient tools, which “might change your view” from the cockpit. A defence official stated the military couldn’t verify whether or not the crew was carrying the night time imaginative and prescient goggles.

Defence secretary Pete Hegseth stated the three troopers within the helicopter “had been on a routine annual night time flight retraining on an ordinary hall for a continuity of presidency mission”.

“Tragically, final night time, a mistake was made . . . there was some kind of an elevation challenge that we now have instantly begun investigating on the DoD and armed forces stage,” he stated, including that what occurred was “completely unacceptable”.

Earlier on Thursday, officers stated responders had recovered 28 our bodies from the American flight and one physique from the Black Hawk to this point.

Trump stated that Russian residents had been aboard the flight and that the US would facilitate the repatriation of their our bodies. There was no direct air journey between the US and Russia since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Critical aviation accidents are uncommon within the US. The final main crash involving a US industrial plane was in 2009, when 49 individuals had been killed on board a Colgan Air flight which crashed right into a home close to Buffalo, New York.

Trump urged individuals to maintain flying.

Further reporting by Felicia Schwartz in Washington

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