The National Transportation Safety Board has confirmed that all 64 people aboard American Airlines Flight 5432 were killed Wednesday evening when a U.S. military helicopter collided with the passenger jet, sending both aicraft crashing into the Potomac River as Flight 5432 made its final approach to Reagan National Airport outside Washington, D.C. All three people aboard the Black Hawk helicopter were killed, as well. Investigators say the helicopter was on a training mission and had veered off its pre-approved flight path shortly before the disaster.
The Washington Post reports the air traffic control tower was understaffed ahead of the crash, with two air traffic controllers doing double duty Wednesday night. One day earlier, another jet had to abort its first landing attempt after a helicopter approached its flight path.
During a news conference on Thursday, President Trump admitted that the cause of the crash is still unknown, but he proceeded to place the blame, without evidence, on Democrats and federal workplace DEI initiatives.
President Donald Trump: “The initiative is part of the FAA’s diversity and inclusion hiring plan, which says, ‘Diversity is integral to achieving FAA‘s mission of ensuring safe and efficient travel.’ I don’t think so. I don’t think so. I think it’s just the opposite.”
In a fact-check of Trump’s comments, The Washington Post found the FAA launched a program to hire air traffic controllers with the very disabilities that Trump attacked in 2019 during Trump’s first term. We’ll have the latest on the crash after headlines.
