A wreckage site in the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Saturday Jose Luis Magana—AP Photo
*** US President Donald Trump says the fatal midair collision between a passenger jet and a military helicopter on Wednesday left no survivors.
President Trump after making the tragic announcement that there was no survivor from the passenger jet that collided with a military helicopter last Wednesday night, and crashed into the Potomac River has also announced his reason for the crash.
According to a Defense Department official statement; the plane, American Eagle Flight No. 5342, a regional jetliner, was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members on a flight from Wichita, Kansas. There were three soldiers aboard the U.S. Army’s Sikorsky H-60
However, Donald Trump squarely placed the blame for the crash on the immediate past Democrats’ government which he accused of mismanaging the aviation sector.
Speaking at a news conference in the White House over the weekend, Trump said the past Democrat government prioritized diversity over safety standards, which he said, culminated in the hellish fatality of the accident.
The plane was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members, while the US Army helicopter had a crew of three.
Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, said the helicopter carrying three service members was participating in a “routine annual training of night flights on a standard corridor for a continuity of government mission”.
The military and federal agencies routinely train for “continuity of government” missions. The exercises ensure the government can function if a disaster threatens or strikes Washington.
Helicopters are key to shuttling certain government leaders to locations of safety.
“The military does dangerous things. It does routine things regularly. Tragically, last night, a mistake was made,” Hegseth said.
The defence secretary said there was some sort of an “elevation issue” but noted that authorities have commenced an investigation.
Authorities have only recovered 28 bodies so far after the aircraft crashed into the Potomac River.
The crash is believed to be the deadliest in the US since 2001.
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