Plane crash near Washington: no survivors, Trump blames Democrats.
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, stated on Thursday that no one survived the collision between a military helicopter and a passenger plane over the Potomac River.
"Unfortunately, no one survived," Trump said during a briefing at the White House on Thursday. He mentioned that he was addressing the American people in a "time of suffering" and requested a moment of silence at the beginning of his speech, as reported by CNN.
"The work now shifts to the recovery mission," Trump noted, adding that Wednesday was a "dark and painful night in the capital of our country and in the history of our nation."
Here’s what is known about the events surrounding the disaster at this time:
* Trump on the reasons for the collision: "We have some pretty good ideas about the causes, but we will figure out how this disaster occurred and ensure that nothing like this ever happens again. I think we will probably express these thoughts now, because for many years I have seen similar things happen," the president said.
* Trump claimed that during his first presidency, he raised the standards for aviation workers to the maximum.
"This was a job that required higher intelligence. And we had it. Then, when I left the White House and Biden took office, he lowered the standards to the lowest they have ever been," he stated.
"Their policies were terrible," the president said, "and their policies were even worse."
He also criticized Pete Buttigieg, who served as transportation secretary in the Biden administration.
"He was a disaster," Trump remarked.
* The President of the International Skating Union, Jay Yule Kim, expressed that "his heart is broken over the news" of the plane crash that claimed the lives of many skaters.
"The International Skating Union and the figure skating community worldwide are devastated by the news that some skaters, their families, friends, and coaches were known to be on the flight that met with a tragic accident last night," he said.
The European Figure Skating Championships will continue until Sunday in Tallinn, Estonia, and the International Skating Union reports that they will honor the victims with a moment of silence before the competitions begin.
* Trump cited one of the causes of the accident as the "push for diversity" at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
"I want to note that before I took office, various articles were published. And here's one of them: FAA's diversity efforts include hiring individuals with serious intellectual and mental disabilities. This is astonishing. And then it was stated that the FAA claims that people with serious disabilities are the most underrepresented segment of the workforce, saying that 'they want them to be present and to be air traffic controllers.' I don't think so. This was on January 14, a week before I took office," Trump said.
"Brilliant people need to be in air traffic controller positions, and their lives are actually shortened due to stress when you have many, many planes, tasks to solve simultaneously, and you need a very special talent and a very special genius to be able to do that," the president added.
* Pilot and instructor Pete Muntyan commented on Trump's remarks.
"What he said is not only unprofessional and unpresidential, but frankly, just nonsensical, as if diversity and equality policies play any role in this accident," Muntyan stated.
He noted that the collision occurred less than 24 hours ago.
"Remember, 67 people lost their lives. I don't want to discourage, but this is something that investigators will really need to break down piece by piece, and it will take a lot of time," Muntyan said.
Background. As reported, there were over ten athletes of Russian descent on board the crashed plane in the USA. Among the passengers were world champions from Russia.