President Donald Trump, in a post on social media early Thursday, criticized the control tower workers and the crew of a Black Hawk military helicopter involved in a deadly midair collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 and the helicopter over the Potomac River Wednesday night.
Wednesday night, the passenger jet, carrying 60 passengers and four crew members, collided with the Army helicopter while attempting a landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport, resulting in a large search-and-rescue operation in the Potomac River.
"The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport," Trump posted on Truth Social. "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," Trump added. "NOT GOOD!!!"
In a later post, the president said "What a terrible night this has been. God bless you all!
According to reports, air traffic controllers at Reagan National asked the American Airlines jet if it could land on a shorter runway, and the pilots agreed. Controllers had cleared the jet to land and flight tracking sites showed the plane adjust its approach to the new runway.
Meanwhile, less than 30 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller asked the helicopter if it had the arriving plane in sight. Then, the controller made another radio call to the helicopter moments later: "PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ."
There was no reply, and the two aircraft collided seconds later.
There were multiple fatalities as a result. An Army official said there were three soldiers on the helicopter.
No survivors have been found, reports The Washington Post Thursday.
At least 19 bodies have been recovered from the river as of early Thursday, CBS News reports.
The Black Hawk helicopter was being used on a training flight, reports The Post.
U.S. Figure Skating has confirmed that several members from its community were on the American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas, to Reagan National Airport.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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