President Trump said Friday that the military helicopter involved in Wednesday night’s deadly midair collision near Washington, D.C., was “flying too high.”
“The Blackhawk helicopter was flying way too high. It was well above the 200-foot limit. That is not too difficult to understand, is it??? Trump posted on Truth Social.
More than 60 people were killed when a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines flight on final approach to Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia.
According to four people briefed on the situation, the helicopter was supposed to be flying lower to the ground when it crashed. According to the Times, the helicopter requested permission to use 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 crash.
In the days following the crash, Trump has vacillated between claiming the helicopter was to blame and claiming diversity efforts in hiring air traffic controllers may have played a role.
“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 visually, someone should have been able to see and removed that helicopter from the equation, and they should have been at a different height.”
However, Trump has repeatedly claimed without evidence that efforts to hire diverse individuals, including those with disabilities, have weakened federal aviation safety.
“We seek individuals of the highest competence, regardless of race. “If they do not have a great brain, a great brain power, they will not be very good at what they do,” he stated.
In response to the incident, the president signed a memo on Thursday to end diversity, equity, and inclusion practices in the aviation sector and assess airline safety, as well as an executive order to appoint a new head of the Federal Aviation Administration.
