Washington, DC, Jan 31: “I speak to you this morning in an hour of anguish for a nation,” said President Donald Trump as he addressed the nation in the wake of the tragic collision between a military helicopter and a passenger jet in Washington, D.C., Wednesday evening.
The passenger jet carrying 64 passengers and crew was traveling from Wichita, Kansas, to the nation’s capital, including competitive figure skaters, and was carrying several figure skaters, according to reports.
The president held a press conference in the White House briefing room on Thursday morning. He began his remarks by requesting a moment of silence for the victims of the crash and their families, Deseret News reported
“As one nation we grieve for every precious soul that has been taken from us so suddenly,” Trump said. “Our hearts are shattered alongside yours and our prayers are with you now.”
The president was joined by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy and Vice President JD Vance.
Trump said that it is so far unclear what led to the tragic crash but there are many opinions and theories around what happened, said the Deseret News.
After expressing condolences, Trump turned to politics, criticizing previous administrations and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg over diversity, equity and inclusion practices.
“We do not know what led to this crash, but we have some very strong opinions and ideas, and I think we’ll probably state those opinions now,” he said, before talking about DEI.
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Trump said the Obama and Biden administrations wrongly changed hiring practices for air traffic controllers. “Their policy was horrible and their politics was even worse,” he said.
The Biden administration was sued last year by more than 900 students from air traffic control programs over changes that were made by the FAA. Trump signed an executive order on the issue last week, reversing the Biden administration’s FAA hiring practices.
“For some jobs, we need the highest level of genius,” he said.
According to the Deseret News site, Trump thanked those who were a part of the rescue and recovery efforts after the crash. He acknowledged local, state and federal authorities as well as the military including the Coast Guard.
“So quick so fast it was mobilized immediately,” Trump said.
Search and rescue operations continued tirelessly throughout the night, but now it has been declared there are no survivors and the work has shifted to recovery.
“This was a dark and excruciating night in our nation’s capital and in our nation’s history,” the president said.
During the press conference, Trump announced he would be appointing Christopher Rocheleau as the acting commissioner of the Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA.
Rocheleau is a 22-year veteran of the agency who Trump said is very highly respected.
The president spoke about an executive order he signed a few days ago to raise the standards of hiring in the FAA, specifically for air traffic controllers.
“We must have only the highest standard for those who work in our aviation system,” Trump said.
He said that only those of the “highest intellect” and “psychologically superior” people should be air traffic controllers.
“My administration will set the highest possible bar for aviation safety,” Trump said. “We have to have our smartest people, doesn’t matter what they look like, how they speak, who they are, it matters intellect, talent, they have to be talented, naturally talented geniuses. You can’t have regular people doing that job they won’t be able to do it, we will restore faith in American air travel.”
Trump said that both the Biden administration and the Obama administration had set lower standards for those hired in aviation.
The president stated that there was a pilot problem from the side of the helicopter and that the plane would have been in sight of those in the helicopter. It was a clear but dark night it Washington D.C. when the crash occurred.
“A helicopter that had the ability to stop, I have helicopters, you can stop a helicopter very quickly, it had the ability to go up or down, it had the ability to turn and the turn it made was not the correct turn obviously,” Trump said.
The president also said that there was a problem with elevation and that the helicopter and the jet should not have been at the same height. He pointed out that the helicopter did make a slight turn at the last minute, but it was too late.
According to Trump, the events of Wednesday night will be studied and investigated diligently in the days to come.
Trump acknowledged that there were multiple Russians who were lost in the plane crash. He also added that despite there being no direct air travel between Russia and the U.S. the government will work to facilitate the transfer of remains, stated the news site.
He said that he and his administration have been in contact with Russia about the incident.
The president also shared that there were people of multiple different nationalities on the flight and they are working with their home countries.
