President Donald Trump signed an aviation safety memorandum on Jan. 30 to reverse hiring practices related to diversity, equity, and inclusion agendas for air traffic controllers and other transportation officials.
“We are going to have the most competent people in the country in our control towers,” Trump said. “For an air traffic controller, we want the brightest, the smartest, the sharpest.”
The president reiterated during a morning briefing, and later while signing the memo, that the government will prioritize competence, and that all decisions will be made in a nondiscriminatory manner that ensures the person most qualified for the position is selected during the hiring process.
Attention has turned to the flight altitude of the Army Black Hawk helicopter that collided with an American Airlines jet near Ronald Reagan National Airport on the night of Jan. 29.
The accident—the deadliest U.S. plane crash since November 2001—occurred at about 9 p.m. ET. All 64 people aboard the jet, along with the three military officers in the helicopter, perished. Based on flight data that has yet to be independently verified, the helicopter was operating at roughly 300 feet above the ground at the time of the collision.
During a Jan. 30 White House briefing, President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that elevation played a role in the incident.
There were likely no survivors during a midair collision between a passenger jet and a helicopter over the Potomac River near Washington, the district’s fire chief said in a news conference on Thursday.
“We are now at a point where we’re switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation. At this point, we don’t believe there are any survivors from this accident,” DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services Chief John Donnelly said at the morning press conference.
“At this point, we don’t believe there are any survivors from this accident.”
An Epoch Times reporter caught the reactions from drivers on the George Washington Parkway near Wednesday night's collision between a commercial passenger aircraft and a military helicopter above the Potomac River.
No survivors are expected from the crash involving a passenger plane carrying 64 people and a military helicopter near Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA), DC Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly Sr. said on Thursday morning.
American Eagle Flight 5342, operated by PSA Airlines, a subsidiary of American Airlines, was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members while making an approach to land at Reagan Airport in Crystal City, Virginia, about five miles from Washington.