WASHINGTON (UNITED STATES) (ITALPRESS) – After convening a conference at the White House, President Donald Trump appeared and asked reporters for a minute’s silence to pay tribute to the victims of the collision between the American Airlines plane and an Army helicopter near Ronald Regan Airport in Washington. “I speak to you this morning after hours of anguish for the entire nation. Shortly before 9 p.m. last night, the American Airlines regional jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an Army helicopter carrying three service members over the Potomac River,” Trump said. “Both planes crashed instantly and were immediately submerged in the waters of the Potomac River, a true tragedy. Trump also stated that “the search went on all night, using every resource available.” The president disclosed that investigations by the U.S. military and the National Transportation Safety Board are underway at this time to shed light on what happened: “We will find out how this disaster occurred and make sure nothing like this ever happens again,” also claiming the appointment of 22-year veteran Chris Rocheleau to head the Federal Aviation Administration. In order to get the final nomination Rocheleau will have to get confirmation from the Senate as well.Trump later criticized former Democratic presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, accusing them of lowering aviation safety standards and blaming them for the collision between the American Airlines flight and an Army Army helicopter near Washington’s Ronald Regan Airport: “I put safety first, Obama, Biden put politics first. Their policies were horrible, their politics were the worst,” Trump said. “The FAA is actively recruiting workers with severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems, and other mental and physical conditions as part of a diversity and inclusion-based hiring initiative described on the agency’s website. According to Trump, the program in recent years has allowed the hiring of people with hearing and vision impairments as well as paralysis and epilepsy, reiterating that air traffic controllers “have to be naturally talented geniuses. You can’t have normal people doing their job.”
Trump also spared no criticism of Pete Buttigieg, Secretary of Transportation during the Biden administration: “That guy is a real winner,” Trump said sarcastically before calling him “a disaster.” After criticizing the previous administration on aviation security, Trump urged members of Congress to speed up the nomination process for members of his administration. “We want quick confirmations,” the president said. The Democrats, as you know, are doing everything they can to delay. They have taken too long. We’re fighting to have very good people in the new administration that everybody knows will be confirmed. We are fighting to get them out more quickly.” Also present at the conference was Sean Duffy, Trump’s new transportation secretary, who had been sworn in just hours before the dramatic crash. Meanwhile, flights have resumed taking off from Washington’s Ronald Regan Airport after numerous disruptions that brought delays and cancellations.
-photo Ipa Agency-(ITALPRESS).
Plane crash in Washington, Trump attacks Biden and Obama on security
