U.S. President Donald Trump said the cause of the collision incident between a passenger plane and a military helicopter in the Washington, D.C. area lies with the Biden administration.
On the 30th (local time), President Trump noted during a news conference held in the White House briefing room that the previous Biden administration lowered the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) hiring standards to the lowest level in history. Trump said, “During my first term, we raised the hiring standards for aviation personnel established during former President Barack Obama’s era, but Joe Biden lowered the hiring standards to the lowest level in history,” adding, “Last week, I signed an executive order to restore the requirements for air traffic controller positions to the highest level.”
Trump continued, “The FAA's (employee hiring, etc.) diversity initiatives include a focus on individuals with serious intellectual and mental disabilities,” stating that “the previous administration’s emphasis on ‘DEI’ (diversity, equity, and inclusion) policies led to the hiring of underqualified air traffic control personnel.” He reiterated, “We need to place the smartest individuals in the institutional sector of aviation safety, and it doesn’t matter how they look, how they speak, or who they are; what matters is their intellectual ability and talent. They must be geniuses with innate talent.”
Earlier, around 8:53 p.m. the previous day, a passenger plane from PSA Airlines, a subsidiary of American Airlines, collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk (Sikorsky H-60) helicopter that was conducting flight training while approaching Ronald Reagan Airport for landing. Following the incident, both aircraft crashed into the nearby Potomac River. As recovery operations are ongoing, authorities report that all 67 individuals on board, including 64 passengers and crew from the plane and 3 soldiers in the helicopter, have died.
On this day, Trump said, “Sadly, there are no survivors,” and added, “I express my condolences to all those who have suddenly lost such precious souls.”