On Tuesday night, a regional American Airlines plane coming from Wichita, Kansas, and performing approach maneuvers from the south towards Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington DC, collided in the air with an army helicopter, causing both aircraft to crash into the cold waters of the Potomac River.
On the Bombardier CRJ-701 twin-engine jet operated by PSA Airlines there were 64 people (60 passengers and four crew members), while the UH-60 Blackhawk was operated by three army members.
What did Donald Trump say about the airplane accident in Washington?
In the hours following the accident, the White House released a statement in which Donald Trump said, "I have been briefed in detail on the terrible accident that has just occurred at Reagan National Airport. May God bless their souls...".
But close to midnight, on his Truth Social network, he expressed questions about the work of the airport control tower and the helicopter crew.
“The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport. The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time. It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didn’t the helicopter go up or down, or turn. Why didn’t the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane. This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!”, wrote near midnight.
In turn, the new Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, who has been in office for two days, supported Trump's assertions. In a conversation with journalists this morning at a press conference, he said, "everything was normal before the accident. Obviously something happened here," and then added, "to support what the president said, from what I have seen so far, do I think this could have been prevented? Absolutely."
In the early hours of the morning, 28 bodies have already been rescued from the Potomac River and it was reported that the plane was upside down and broken into three parts.