President Trump has speculated that a lowering of standards of air traffic controllers in the US could have been a factor in the mid-air crash between an American Airlines flight and a military helicopter over Washington on Wednesday evening.
All 64 people onboard the passenger jet and three soldiers in the Black Hawk helicopter were killed when they crashed into the Potomac river.
The collision occurred as Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas was approaching Washington’s Reagan National Airport.
Following the crash, the airport said the runway where the plane was intending to land will remain closed until 7 February. The other two runways reopened on Thursday morning.
Speaking at a White House press conference yesterday, President Trump said: “We do not know what led to this crash, but we have some very strong opinions and ideas.”
He then went on to say that diversity policies introduced for the hiring of air traffic controllers under the watch of his predecessors Joe Biden and Barack Obama might have been a factor.
Trump and his fellow Republicans have regularly attacked ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ programmes in the federal government.
However, when asked by a reporter how he could blame diversity programmes for the crash when the investigation had only just begun, Trump said: “Because I have common sense.”
He said the hiring guidance for the FAA’s DEI programme included preference for those with disabilities involving ‘hearing, vision, missing extremities, partial paralysis, complete paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disability, psychiatric disability and dwarfism’.
The FAA has 35,000 employees, only a small percentage of whom are air traffic controllers, and in response to criticisms over diversity hiring practices last year, it released a statement that all new recruits must meet ‘rigorous qualifications’ that ‘vary by position’.
However, it has also faced criticism over a shortage of air traffic controllers since the pandemic and there are unconfirmed reports this might have played a part in the accident.
Declining to speculate on the cause of the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation, said it expects to issue its preliminary report in 30 days.
The ‘black box’ flight recorders have been recovered from the plane, which was being operated by American Airlines’ subsidiary PSA under the American Eagle colours.
