4 months ago
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(The Hill) -- President Donald Trump connected Friday asserted the military helicopter progressive successful a deadly midair collision near Washington, D.C., was "flying excessively high."
"The Blackhawk chopper was flying excessively high, by a lot. It was acold supra the 200 ft limit. That’s not truly excessively analyzable to understand, is it???" Trump posted connected Truth Social.
More than 60 radical died aft an American Airlines flight collided with a UH-60 Black Hawk chopper connected its last attack to Reagan Washington National Airport successful Arlington, Virginia, connected Wednesday night.
The New York Times reported Thursday that the chopper was expected to beryllium flying little to the crushed astatine the clip of the crash, citing 4 radical briefed connected the issue. The Times reported that the chopper had asked support to usage a way that would person allowed it to alert nary higher than 200 feet.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Pentagon are investigating the origin of the crash.
Since the collision took spot connected Wednesday night, Trump has vacillated betwixt arguing the chopper may person been astatine fault successful the incidental and claiming diversity efforts successful hiring aerial postulation controllers whitethorn person played a role.
"The radical successful the chopper should person seen wherever they were going," Trump told reporters Thursday astatine the White House. "What was the chopper doing successful that track? Very sad. But visually, idiosyncratic should person been capable to spot and taken that chopper retired of play and the should person been astatine a antithetic height."
But Trump has besides repeatedly suggested without grounds that efforts to prosecute divers individuals, including those with disabilities, had weakened national aviation safety.
“We privation the astir competent people, nary substance what contention they are. … If they don’t person a large brain, a large powerfulness of the brain, they’re not going to beryllium precise bully astatine what they do," helium said.
The president besides signed a memo Thursday to extremity diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices successful the aviation assemblage and to measure hose safety, arsenic good arsenic an enforcement bid to name a caller caput of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), successful the aftermath of the incident.
