Trump: Helicopter, Plane Crash a ‘Confluence of Bad Decisions That Were Made’
Trump confirmed no one survived the crash.
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I couldn’t watch the press conference in full due to the two Senate confirmation hearings.
President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth brief the media on the deadly Washington DC plane crash involving an American Airlines flight and an Army Blackhawk helicopter. pic.twitter.com/FEyYnrmDSe
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) January 30, 2025
The clips, though, show President Donald Trump’s anger towards the Army helicopter and American Airlines midair collision.
No one survived.
Trump placed a lot of blame on DEI.
#BREAKING: President Trump just EVISCERATED the FAA, and blamed their incompetence on their DEI practices during his press briefing on the DC plane crash
Holy CRAP.
Trump also CALLED OUT Pothole Pete Buttigieg, saying he had a "good line of bullsh*t"
"He has run FAA right… pic.twitter.com/JHQjZd6w71
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) January 30, 2025
I wonder if Trump knows something we don’t because his anger could be felt through the screen. He likely does since he’s the president.
Blaming DEI led to some stupid questions by the press:
ABC’s @MaryKBruce: “Mr. President, on DEI — on DEI and the claims that you’ve made, are you saying this crash was somehow caused and the result of diversity hiring and what evidence have you seen to support these claims?”
President Trump: “It just could have been. We have a high standard. We’ve had a much higher standard than anybody else and there things where you have to go by brainpower. You have to go by psychological quality and psychological quality is a very important element of it. These are various, very powerful that we put to use and they were terminated by Biden and Biden went by a standard that’s the exact opposite, so we don’t know, but we do know that you had two planes at the same level. You had a helicopter and a plane. That shouldn’t have happened and we’ll we’re going to look into that and we’re going to see, but certainly for an air traffic controller, we want the brightest, the smartest, the we want somebody that’s psychologically superior and that’s what we’re going to have.”
ABC’s @MaryKBruce: “Mr. President, on DEI — on DEI and the claims that you’ve made, are you saying this crash was somehow caused and the result of diversity hiring and what evidence have you seen to support these claims?”
President Trump: “It just could have been. We have a high… pic.twitter.com/Lz16lMGTLW
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 30, 2025
I mean, I agree that the blaming of DEI and other factors shouldn’t be aired right now. But still, it’s not a secret that former President Joe Biden watered down the government in the name of diversity instead of talent.
Another exchange:
NYT’s David Sanger: “Mr. President, you have today blamed the diversity elements, but then told us that you weren’t sure that the controllers made any mistake and then said perhaps the helicopter pilots were —”
Trump: “Yeah.”
Sanger: “— the ones who made the mistake.”
Trump: “It’s all under investigation.”
Sanger: “I understand that. That’s why I’m trying to figure out how you can come to the conclusion now that diversity had something to do with this crash.”
Trump: “Because I have common sense, okay? And unfortunately, lot of people don’t. We want brilliant people doing this. This is a major chess game at the highest level. When you have 60 planes coming in during a short period of time and they’re all coming in different directions and you’re dealing with very high level computer — computer work and very complex computers and one of the other things I will tell you is that the systems that built I was going to rebuild the entire system and. Then we had an election that didn’t turn out the way it should have, but they didn’t build the systems properly. They spent a lot of money renovating the system, spending much more money than they would have spent if they bought a new for air traffic controllers, meaning the computerized systems.”
Sanger: [Inaudible]
Trump: “There are certain kinds of companies that do a very good job. They didn’t use those companies.
Sanger: “They use companies that should not have been doing it. No. I think — I think this — I think it’s very important to understand that for some and not only this, but air traffic controllers, they have to be at the highest level of genius.”
NYT’s David Sanger: “Mr. President, you have today blamed the diversity elements, but then told us that you weren't sure that the controllers made any mistake and then said perhaps the helicopter pilots were —”
Trump: “Yeah.”
Sanger: “— the ones who made the mistake.”
Trump:… pic.twitter.com/fW4jjHn30T
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 30, 2025
This was funny:
KAITLAN COLLINS: We don’t even know the names of the pilots, and you are blaming Democrats/DEI. Don’t you think you’re getting ahead of the investigations?
TRUMP: No. That’s not a very smart question. I’m SURPRISED, coming from you.
KAITLAN COLLINS: We don't even know the names of the pilots, and you are blaming Democrats/DEI. Don't you think you're getting ahead of the investigations?
TRUMP: No. That's not a very smart question. I'm SURPRISED, coming from you. pic.twitter.com/nr2F3JCxbu
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 30, 2025
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[ABC reporter Mary K Bruce]: “What evidence have you seen to support the claim that DEI hiring had something to do with this crash?” [DJT]: “It just could have been.”
How embarrassing. President Trump’s answers indicate that he has no factual basis for his claim. Instead of blaming DEI at this time, he would have been well-advised to say, simply, “It’s best to wait until the investigation of this accident has been completed.”
Agree… unfortunately a Democrat-like response. There have been DEI issues with ATC.
Youtube: “Audio of MID-AIR CRASH into Potomac River | Regional Jet and Black Hawk Helicopter”
ATC notified chopper of location and altitude of CRJ with approach path to 33. Gave permission for visual continuance for chopper. From tracking…chopper quartered in to the jet. ATC less of an issue now.
Part 1 was the initial audio that has only the communications with the civilian aircraft but with the tower’s broadcast to the chopper. Part 2 has the mix of the civilian and military channels. The military com from the chopper could not be heard by the civilian jets inbound due to separate frequency.. The CRJ had no way of knowing where the chopper was.
Twice ATC told the chopper traffic ahead and twice the chopper said they had the plane in sight and requested visual separation. ATC is looking better now…. but separate rather than shared frequency in area operation? Was night vision being used? Why so “dark” in such busy airspace. The assumption is that military is so well trained. In hindsight, a lot of what happened will look ridiculous in the daylight.
I’m concerned that if the final report does conclude that DEI was to blame, many people will suspect that the investigators said this only b/c they feared to contradict President Trump’s initial public response.
The DEI issue is this…. the ATC was running short staffed. The controller was having to operate two seats rather than one. The short staffing is because the number of qualified white applicants accepted was limited to keep the approved ratio of hires of minorities. It wasn’t the hiring of unqualified minorities…. it was the prohibition of hiring more whites.
Trump needed to be a lot more clear about how DEI is involved.
I don’t really get why “we” think presidents need to speak on every issue. A brief message of condolences and a confidence-injecting statement regarding investigations being underway with all available resources should suffice for a POTUS. Then (s)he can bugger off and go do some extremely important work while others provide their press statements before buggering off back to work.
If something is so important the POTUS, VPOTUS, SecDef, etc. all need to address the press for 30+ minutes / an extensive period, POTUS should be letting them investigate… then update us from the Oval Office with an address, sharing what can be shared, a few days later, when more is known.
Separate thought: our man ought to take over the Super Bowl Halftime Show.
Thanks for all the info that you’ve been providing.
Pace yourself sweetie or you’ll burn out well before Trumps 3rd term is over
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For any fence-sitters who might come here, I would like very much for these comment sections to help refute the stereotype that conservatives enjoy being jerks.
Thank you so much for your concern
Only like being a jerk to retards and mentally disabled hence why we are jerks to retards like you
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“For any fence-sitters who might come here…”
You’re a reconstituted JR, nothing more.
Youse guys. Get a room.
Totally agree. Trump started off just fine, but then he went into that rant. Part of it was pure partisanship, and part was a DEI claim without evidence. I actually agree about DEI and about Buttigieg, and strongly about both of those, but today simply was not the time or the place.
I contrast it with Ronald Reagan after the Space Shuttle explosion. While there weren’t surrounding issues on that (later, the O rings, but it was not known by Reagan at the time), Reagan showed real grace. Trump just popped off, and he shouldn’t have done it.
“Instead of blaming DEI at this time, he would have been well-advised to blah blah blah.”
Give me a break. If trump had done that you’d have some other criticism.
Never Trumper that you are, all of your posts are critical of Trump.
Actually, I voted for Trump, and [in other forums] defended him many times against the lies that were spread about him by the Dems, Media, and Deep State.
I’ve also stated clearly in LI comment sections, several times during the last few days, that I support President Trump’s deportations of illegal immigrants, and his threats to sanction countries that will not accept their citizens whom we deport for having entered the US illegally.
This post that I made in this same thread may interest you. You can search the page to find the context.
Like the owner of this channel?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSaReKwdjZc
When I heard Trump bring up DEI this soon, my first thought was that it was a cheap shot.
DJT: you’re better than this.
DEI is not our first foray into perverted promotions in furtherance of social policies. This also happened during the Vietnam war.
The President wanted more minority officers in the USAF. The USAF said, “The only way to quickly promote is through the pilot corps, because we are at war, and this is the class that gets killed. However, the candidates are failing. Can we get money for extra training? The answer came down “No,” and a decision came down to socially promote the black washouts.
My dad, a recruiter, came home fuming. “We are going to be killing black pilots. The smart ones will decline the rank, if they know they’ve failed.”
This kind of thing is what pissed off Rev. Wright so much. We unjustly paid a price in blood and treasure for social promotions.
DJT is old enough to remember this.
With a statement like that, he must know who was involved.
Shoot-from-the hip Trump?
Not necessarily …
This reminds me of Obozo, “the ;police were stupid” or something similar. Now THAT’S a JERK!
“The officer was racist.”
Everything for Democrats comes down to other people being “racist.”
I’d like to see Republicans avoid that trap with DEI, but if they can’t show the discipline right out of the starting gate, it won’t be a major problem for me. Hopefully they’ll learn.
Democrats want “social justice?” This is “social justice” for race-obsessed Democrats.
This is not a one-party society, and let’s hope it never is. In a pluralistic democratic republic, each side has to do more than just make declarations of goals and intentions. You have to win arguments, and it takes time, truth, logic, and discipline to do it, especially if you’re talking about big changes.
I am for Trump on the substance, but that is only the starting point. In engineering terms, substance is “necessary but not sufficient.” In this case, you don’t go out there in a press conference after a horrible event where 65 people are dead, and start yammering about how bad the predecessor was.
I swear it, Trump has a way of being his own worst enemy at times, and this was one of those times.
Knowing who was involved, and knowing that DEI is to blame, are not necessarily the same thing.
I hope you are correct because if not he is burning his newly acquired credibility in a bonfire! What he just said is as bad as the two Dems who blamed him for the crash.
If he knew, he should have provided the evidence.
Or, it could be that he knows the policy, and how it has been implemented.
https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1885017228958986276
Air traffic controllers have to be at least as smart as navigators, as well as being well-trained.
When you undermine both air traffic control and military preparedness with DEI crap, it contributes to calamities such as this indirectly, if not directly.
Damn waiting till the reports come seeping in months later. Seize the moment and beat the shit out of these pussies.
In moments of national tragedy like this, POTUS should lean heavily towards brevity and circumspection…the two things Trump struggles with the most. He should have confirmed there were no survivors, extended his deepest sympathies to the families, assured the traveling public that the root-cause of the incident would be identified and remedied and then said nothing else. His part in that presser went on WAY too long.
Oh, really. Some stupid, DEI bitch, trainee was piloting the chopper. Be MAD , not magnanimous. Magnanimity is for losers.
Clean house, rough, hard and fast. Take no prisoners.
Wow! Shoot your mouth much? Sec Duffy said the chopper crew had a lot of experience. There was no ‘Trainee” involved.
Report is that it was a TRAINING flight with a “FAIRLY” experienced crew. Pilot identity not officially revealed yet. Always takes time if dark or female.
The chopper pilot is white. The crew was wearing latest night vision (DUMB!!!). The route they were to take requires hugging the far shore and below 200′ AGL. The chopper was at 350′ and not on the shore … Juan Brown has this sorted out so far.
I also think Trump should have waited, regardless of what he knows.
Those aircraft had at least three pairs of eyes on the flight decks. There is no excuse to not be vigilant in scanning for traffic, especially around an airport. Complacency can easily set in when you are under radar contact and in contact with ATC whose job it is to sequence and separate traffic. Moreover, that heli pilot was advised twice of the traffic conflict and both times stated he had the traffic in sight AND requested to maintain visual — meaning he could maneuver as he saw fir without asking or waiting for ATC to approve.
A tragedy that was totally avoidable had both cockpit crews looked outside the window.
You are wrong about the eyes on the flight decks. Two pilots on each aircraft, no engineers any longer.
Yes. Generally only wide-bodies had flight engineers. Smaller commuter planes (like the one in this incident) never did. I think the 747-200 was the last commercial passenger aircraft to utilize a flight engineer. The passenger variants of those planes have been out of service for a decade or more.
Depending on flight length there may be additional crews such as those 18 hour flights. Otherwise all heavies run with crew of two.
Do any of the cargo operators still flying 747-200 (maybe a handful of DC-10s) still use engineers? Or, have avionics updates made them redundant as well?
CRJ – two
Helicopter – at least one
It was a proficiency check with nighttime goggles.
Every pilot in the military must have a proficiency check once a year. The Blackhawk had two pilots.
I’m hearing some rational TV expert commenters pointing out that the helicopter pilot did have a passenger aircraft in sight, yet it might have been a different one from that being referred to by the air traffic controller.
Even so, based on the information available so far, it’s not easy to understand how the helicopter pilot did see the passenger jet with sufficient time to avoid it – even if there were no warning from an air traffic controller.
The pilot of the CRJ700 wouldn’t see the helicopter by “looking out the window” because it was behind and to the side of him, not in front. The helicopter pilot should have seen the plane, particularly since the helicopter was flying at a higher elevation than allowed.
Not only that, but at 400 feet with the copter closing fast, the aircraft pilot wouldn’t have had time to evade. This was all about the copter, and maybe about the ATC for not telling that copter to reduce its altitude right away.
Targa… as of 10 years ago…yes… as both a 200 pilot and I watched the pilot shoot minimums into ANC in a Twin Otter. She had the ILS solid all the way down…. hand flying. In the Otter we could lean out into the isle and watch. Flew into the soup …. the glow from the landing lights was amazing. Afterwards we had a great time hanger talking and jazzed at her flying.
I am in the process of recovering from surgery. About a quarter of the surgeon’s clinicians I have talked with do not sound knowledgeable. It will take a decade before we recover from the effects of DEI in health care.
My wife is a clinician in one of the premiere teaching hospitals in the country. You have absolutely no idea how bad it is. If you did, you would be terrified. One problem is the MCAT itself. It was changed in 2015 (I think) and that change arguably made it easier for previously unqualified students to matriculate. But, for many in positions of authority in the medical education complex, that change wasn’t enough. There has been a move for several years to dispense entirely with the MCAT, which would be like throwing gasoline on a bonfire. In any event, there is no question that white & Asian students have to do appreciably better on the MCAT than DEI students in order to get an invitation to a medical school….any medical school.
Regardless of what he knows, Trump should have waited a while before expressing his anger.
I agree. Bodies are still being recovered. Trump could have waited a few days especially if he knows something we don’t. It was not a good look. He needs to step away from the camera and mic for a while. Families of the victims are still being notified.
Trump is accustomed to having to get in front of the narrative. Leftists were making noises last night about putting the blame for this on Trump, including media hacks. He had to stop that silly shit in its tracks.
I am a retired airline pilot and the only way the chopper would be allowed to proceed would be if they confirmed that they had visual contact with the airliner. The controller had to have heard that or would have vectored the chopper away. That is a highly controlled airspace and that chopper had to be at fault. The reason why will come out soon.
the copter did tell atc they had a visual on crj.
did crj have visual on copter? we don’t know.
spatial awareness issue from night vision in copter? we don’t know.
did tcas in crj fail? we don’t know.
who knows right now.
until fdr/cvr from all involved its all political and armchair warrior bullshit right now.
Separate frequencies… civilian and military traffic both could hear tower, but military transmission on different frequency to tower. TCAS under 1000 ft only gives notification of nearby traffic but will not give avoidance directive as too low.
Jet on complex final… their job is to land safely. The tower never asked for jet to look for traffic at such a critical moment. Captain flying approach, first officer monitoring plane.
The plane had right of way because it was coming in for a landing. The helicopter is far more maneuverable and it’s their job to get the hell out of the way.
The American flight was not tasked with seeing the chopper. They were under positive control and were cleared to land. The total responsibility was on the chopper and the controller. Of course, all flight crews should be alert but that approach into the DC airport takes a lot of effort to stay within noise abatement guide lines. This is just the tip of the iceberg when drones are considered being flown by ignorant people.
Even if the plane had seen the chopper, it was closing fast and there simply would not have been time to evade.
The American flight was not tasked with seeing the chopper.
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but atc is. correct ?–did a bit of reading on that juan brown link and was very informative–especially the respondents, among them several commercial helo pilots–also a couple of military helo guys–those guys stated that the helo routes around this particular airport(believe the chopper in this incident was proceeding on route 4 on the eastern side of the potomac)) have an operational ceiling of 200′–from the info available, the chopper was proceeding at 350″ and ascending–as the minimum is 400′ for the approach slope to runway 33, the helo was at least 150′ and rising into the jet’s landing slope–how could atc NOT advise / redirect the helo and / or american prior to the collision ?
Inspector I don’t have your experience but do have a commercial ticket and spent many years in aviation management.
I agree that the helicopter crew should have taken corrective action. It appears that whatever the crew was looking at was not the regional jet.
Obviously ATC saw the potential collision course. Have not seen any transcripts of the communications but did ATC ever direct either crew to turn to a different heading climb or any other specific correction?
Transcripts on youtube as I posted. Chopper acknowledged twice had plane in sight with last communications shortly before collision. Tower did not command change. The Tower has a camera pointing down 15/33 and you can hear the gasps as Tower sees explosion.
Thanks for all the info that you’re posting.
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Maybe Trump should have waited as long as Democrats did before they rushed in to blame him?
Just an example of the stupidity of allowing VFR traffic in a high density IFR environment. The heli pilot had visual on the wrong aircraft.
That seems the most likely explanation; Helicopter informs ATC ‘we have visual’ but on the wrong aircraft.
President Trump has an uncanny knack for being proven correct in these situations.
really? When did that happen. He almost opens mouth ,inserts foot. Not a very smart man
The tower was understaffed. Biden’s DEI policies meant over a thousand applicants were rejected based solely on the fact their skin colour was wrong.
So f88k you (royal you, not you directly tj) and your DEI hiring policies.
Were applicants for jobs at that location turned away on grounds of their race? If that’s true (and it may well be), then Trump needs to show the evidence.
Can this clown ever go ten minutes without saying something stupid?
He’s so obsessed with ginning up his racist base.
Thank you for reflexively calling a Republican a racist and proving my point.
Here’s your sign… and your “social justice.”
You’re a
“Can this clown ever go ten minutes without saying something stupid?”
You idiot, the post isn’t about you!
Trump’s racist base
Like the owner of this channel?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSaReKwdjZc
An Oreo….
Trump bans trans and then …so far not confirmed…a shemale pilot is in command of chopper that takes down jet. Zero Hedge reports ..unconfirmed. that the female pilot was trans and had recently been poster…ah…..girl for the movement.