US President Donald Trump has suggested without evidence that the deadly mid-air collision of two aircraft in Washington was the result of the Federal Aviation Administration's efforts to hire a more diverse workforce.
Mr Trump leveled the accusation at a White House press conference called to update Americans on the crash last night, in which a passenger jet about to land at Reagan National Airport collided with an Army helicopter on a training flight.
The cause of the air crash is not yet clear, and there is no evidence that efforts to make the federal workforce more diverse have compromised air safety.
Yet Mr Trump used the briefing to step up his rhetoric on the issue, in this case criticising the FAA, which regulates commercial US air travel.
"The FAA diversity push includes focus on hiring people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities. That is amazing," Mr Trump said, claiming the FAA wanted people "with severe disabilities, the most underrepresented segment of the workforce, and they want them in and they want them - they can be air traffic controllers."
Asked how he could blame diversity, equity and inclusion hiring for the crash without yet knowing who was at fault, Mr Trump said, "because I have common sense".
"Air traffic controllers have to be at the highest level of genius," he added.
A former FAA official told Reuters that air traffic controllers undergo rigorous testing - mentally and physically - before they are hired.
Mr Trump's comments drew criticism from aviation safety experts, disability rights advocates and Democratic lawmakers.
Meanwhile, US authorities have said that it was not yet clear why the crash between the regional jet and the US Army helicopter happened.
The crash killed 67 people in the deadliest US air disaster in more than 20 years.
The investigation into the crash in the nation's capital has just begun.
The American Airlines Bombardier jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided with the Army Black Hawk helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River as it prepared to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
The names of all the victims have not yet been released, but they included a number of promising young figure skaters and people from Kansas, where the flight originated.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said both aircraft had been flying standard flight patterns and there had been no breakdown in communication.
"Everything was routine up to the point of the accident," Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin told Reuters. The airport is located just across the river from Washington, in Virginia.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators said they would have a preliminary report within 30 days. They said they had not yet recovered the "black boxes" on the aircraft that record flight data.
"This is an all hands on deck event," chair Jennifer Homendy told a press conference.
The agency has begun collecting wreckage, including portions of the helicopter, and is storing it at a hangar at Reagan National.
At the White House, Mr Trump criticised the helicopter pilots and suggested air traffic controllers were to blame.
"We do not know what led to this crash, but we have some very strong opinions and ideas," he said.
Radio communications show that air traffic controllers alerted the helicopter about the approaching jet and ordered it to change course.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
One controller rather than two was handling local plane and helicopter traffic last night at Reagan National, a situation that was deemed "not normal" but considered adequate staffing for lower volumes of traffic, according to a person briefed on the matter.
The decision to combine duties in the evening is not uncommon, the source said. The New York Times first reported the "not normal" designation.
A shortage of air traffic controllers in the United States in recent years has spurred safety concerns.
At several facilities, controllers work mandatory overtime and six-day work weeks to cover shortages. The Federal Aviation Administration has about 3,000 fewer controllers than it says it needs.
American Airlines confirmed 60 passengers and four crew members were on board the jet.
The helicopter, on a training flight, was carrying three soldiers, a US official said.
Passengers on the flight included ice skaters, family and coaches returning from events in Wichita, Kansas, including Russian-born former world champions Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov.
The mid-air collision occurred as the passenger jet flying from Wichita was approaching to land at Reagan.
Radio communications between the air traffic control tower and the Black Hawk showed the helicopter crew knew the plane was in the vicinity.
Airspace is frequently crowded in the US capital region, home to three commercial airports and several major military facilities, and officials have raised concerns about busy runways at Reagan National Airport, just across the river from Washington.
There have been several near-miss incidents that have sparked alarm, including a near-collision in May 2024.
Daniel Driscoll, President Trump's nominee for US Army Secretary, said the military might rethink training operations in the region. "This seems to be preventable," he said at a Senate confirmation hearing.
The helicopter was flown by a "fairly experienced crew" that was wearing night-vision goggles on an annual proficiency training flight, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a video statement.
The Pentagon said it was launching an investigation.
American Eagle Flight 5342 was operated by PSA Airlines, an Ohio-based regional subsidiary of American Airlines.
The plane was a CRJ-700, the airline said, from a line of regional jets made by Canada's Bombardier, later sold to Mitsubishi.
Air traffic control recordings appear to capture the final attempted communications with the helicopter, call sign PAT25, before it collides with the CRJ jet.
"PAT25, do you have a CRJ in sight? PAT25, pass behind the CRJ," an air traffic controller says at 1.47am Irish time, according to a recording on liveatc.net.
Seconds later, another aircraft calls in to air traffic control, saying, "Tower, did you see that?" - apparently referring to the crash. An air traffic controller then redirects planes heading to runway 33 to go around.
Webcam video of the crash showed the collision and an explosion lighting up the night sky.
"I just saw a fireball and then it was just gone. I haven't seen anything since they hit the river," an air traffic controller was heard saying over the radio.
Answer behind Washington DC air crash may come sooner than usual
The skaters on board were returning from a camp following an event in Wichita, governing body US Figure Skating said.
"We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims' families closely in our hearts," it said.
Russian media said Ms Shishkova and Mr Naumov, who were married and working as coaches, were returning from Wichita with a group of young skaters.
Russia's Mash news outlet published a list of 13 skaters, many of them the children of Russian emigres to the US, who it said were believed to have been on the plane.
The Kremlin offered condolences to the families of Russians killed and said there were no plans for contacts for now between President Vladimir Putin and Mr Trump.
The last deadly major crash involving a commercial airliner in the US was in 2009, when all 49 people aboard a Colgan Air flight died when the plane crashed in New York state. One person was also killed on the ground.
