Trump Gives Remarks On Airline Tragedy From WH Briefing Room: ‘An Hour Of Anguish For Our Nation’
A somber President Donald Trump addressed the nation in the hours following a horrific mid-air collision between a commercial aircraft and Army helicopter in Washington, D.C., asking Americans to pray for the deceased in “an hour of anguish for our nation.”
From the White House Briefing Room podium, the Republican looked on gravely as he informed members of the media about updates he received overnight and into Thursday morning. His remarks came about 13 hours after American Airlines flight 5342 collided with a Black Hawk helicopter on its descent to Reagan National Airport.
“Just before nine p.m. last night, an American Airlines regional jet carrying sixty passengers and four crew collided with an Army Black Hawk carrying three military service members over the Potomac River,” Trump announced. “Both aircrafts crashed instantly and were immediately submerged into the icy waters of the Potomac. Real tragedy.”
By early the following morning, search and rescue officials with the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Fire Department predicted no one survived the crash, and its efforts would begin shifting to a recovery operation. So far, 27 bodies have been pulled from the river.
“I have to say, the local, state, federal, and military including the United States Coast Guard, in particular, they’ve done a phenomenal job,” Trump went on. “So quick, so fast. It was mobilized immediately.”
“The work has now shifted to a recovery operation. Sadly, there are no survivors. This was a dark and excruciating night in our nation’s capital and in our nation’s history. A tragedy of terrible proportions.”
“As one nation, we grieve for every precious soul that has been taken from us so suddenly, and we are a country of, really we are in mourning. This has really shaken a lot of people, including other nations of people who were on the flight.”
Audio from the moment of the crash reveals a chaotic situation at the airport’s air traffic control center shortly after officers directed flight 5342 to land while ordering the Army helicopter to fly behind the jet. A short time later, a fireball above the city’s sky was captured on camera, and air traffic control began diverting numerous flights away from the area.
Among those killed were competitive figure skaters on their way home from the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Kansas. According to a Kremlin spokesperson, the world of figure skating lost both Americans and Russians, including 1994 international competition winners. Their son, a competitive figure skater based in Boston, was also among the dead.
A senior U.S. Department of Defense official told Fox News that the Army pilot was “fairly experienced” with the Black Hawk under his control and was equipped with night vision.
Aviation analyst Kyle Bailey told the outlet that the collision amounts to a “perfect storm” in the industry, akin to walking outside and being struck by lightning.
“It was the perfect storm of events that happened last night,” he said, adding it is “unfair to cast blame at this early stage.”
“The U.S. military runs an incredible aviation operation,” he said. “But distractions do happen, and all humans make errors.”
