President Donald Trump has reacted to the devasting plane crash of an American Airlines flight that collided with a Black Hawk helicopter near the Ronald Reagan National Airport late Wednesday night.
American Airlines Flight 5342 was coming into land around 9 p.m. ET, and was arriving from Wichita, Kansas. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the plane was struck by a Black Hawk helicopter while it approached the runway and was at a relatively low altitude when the collision happened, crashing into the nearby Potomac River.
Present onboard was the U.S. Figure Skating team, two Russian Olympic figure skaters, coaches, and family members, who had returned from a camp in Wichita. First responders are now conducting search-and-rescue in the Potomac River.
In response to the crash, Trump took to his social media platform Truth Social, and questioned how the crash had happened on a clear night.
“The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport,” Trump said. “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.”
Trump further questioned the communication between the airport’s control tower and the Army helicopter.
“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!!!” Trump said.
U.S. Figure Skating said in a statement they are “devastated” by the news and will update on the situation when more information is available.
“We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts. We will continue to monitor the situation and will release more information as it becomes available.”
