President Trump argued Thursday that it appears to him that the collision between an American Airlines jet and Army helicopter over the Potomac River “should have been prevented.”
“The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport. 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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
An orange fireball lights up the sky at the moment an American Airlines flight crashed with a military helicopter on Jan. 19, 2025. EarthCam
Emergency resonders access the damage of the flight in the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan National Airport. Getty Images“Why didn’t the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane,” the president added, referring to publicly available air traffic control audio of the incident.
“This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!”
In a separate post, Trump wrote: “What a terrible night this has been. God bless you all!”
Follow the NYP’s coverage of the deadly DC plane collision
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- Federal employees, including FAA, received email encouraging them to resign a day after DC plane crash: report
- Chilling new videos give clearest view yet of DC plane crash — and debris falling into river after fireball
- Husband whose wife texted him minutes before fatal DC collision details the heartbreaking moment he learned about doomed flight
- DC chopper, plane crash live updates: No survivors expected after AA flight collides with military helicopter in deadliest US crash since 2009
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President Trump speaks in the East Room of the White House on Jan. 29, 2025. APAmerican Airlines Flight 5342, operated by PSA Airlines, was traveling from Wichita, Kan., to Washington when it collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter as it approached Washington Reagan National Airport in Virginia.
The American Airlines flight collided with a Black Hawk on Wednesday night.
There were 60 passengers and four crew members aboard the plane.
