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A preliminary report by the Federal Aviation Administration found that staffing at the Ronald Reagan Airport air traffic control tower was “not normal” at the time of the deadly collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet.
The internal report, released on Thursday and reviewed by The New York Times said the controller who was handling helicopters in the airport’s vicinity on Wednesday night was also instructing planes that were landing and departing from its runways.
These jobs are typically assigned to two different controllers.
It comes as the National Transportation Safety Board promised to “leave no stone unturned” in their investigation. Whether human or mechanical factors contributed to the crash that left 67 people dead is not yet clear, officials said. Black boxes have not yet been recovered.
At a press briefing hours earlier, President Donald Trump linked the Federal Aviation Administration’s diversity, equity and inclusion policies to the incident. “You have to be the highest intellect and psychologically superior people were allowed to qualify for air traffic controllers,” he said.
All flights in and out of Washington, D.C.’s Ronald Reagan National Airport were resumed at 11 a.m. Thursday.
Trump to meet with victims’ families at unspecified time
Donald Trump says he will be meeting with some of the families of the victims from the DC collision, but did not specify when.
“I will be meeting with some people that were very badly hurt with their family member, obviously, but I’ll be meeting with some of the families, yeah,” he told reporters.
Trump said he did not have plans currently to visit first responders at the site of the collision.
Mike Bedigan30 January 2025 23:00
ATC staffing was ‘not normal’ at the time of crash, FAA says
A preliminary report by the Federal Aviation Administration has found that staffing at the DCA air traffic control tower was “not normal” at the time of the deadly crash.
The internal report, released on Thursday and reviewed by The New York Times said the controller who was handling helicopters in the airport’s vicinity on Wednesday night was also instructing planes that were landing and departing from its runways.
These jobs are typically assigned to two different controllers.
Mike Bedigan30 January 2025 22:30
Trump signs executive order blaming Biden and DEI for DC crash
Donald Trump has signed an executive order effectively blaming Joe Biden and DEI for horrific DC mid-air crash.
The order is titled “Immediate Assessment of Aviation Safety.”
The order states: “In light of the damage done to aviation safety by the Biden administration’s DEI and woke policies, what this presidential memorandum orders is your secretary of transportation and FAA administrator… to basically ensure that we are actively undoing all of that damage.”
“We want the most competent people,” Trump said. “We don’t care what race they are. We want the most competent people, especially in those positions.
“You’re talking about extremely complex things, and if they don’t have a great brain, a great power of the brain, they’re not going to be very good at what they do and bad things will happen.”
Mike Bedigan30 January 2025 22:15
CNN pundit apologizes after sparking right-wing fury for blaming DC plane crash on Trump
CNN political commentator Bakari Sellers apologized on Wednesday night after deleting a tweet that placed blame on President Donald Trump for the deadly midair crash over Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., claiming he “f***ed up” by citing the president’s federal hiring freeze as a potential reason for the horrific accident.
Sellers’ initial post sparked backlash among Trump supporters and right-wing commentators, who called the former Democratic lawmaker “despicable” and a “broken human being” for tying the tragedy to Trump’s executive actions.
Officials said on Thursday that they do not expect any survivors after an American Airlines passenger plane making its landing approach collided with a Black Hawk helicopter that was on a training mission over the D.C. airport. The flight was arriving from Wichita, Kansas, and carried 64 passengers and crew, including several members of the U.S. Figure Skating team. The Army helicopter had three soldiers aboard.
Kelly Rissman30 January 2025 22:00
Dad of pilot flying American Airlines jet that crashed speaks out on ‘worst day of my life’
The father of the man piloting an American Airlines jet that collided with an Army helicopter mid-air in Washington, D.C. has spoken out.
Sam Lilley, 28, was one of two people piloting the flight from Wichita, Kansas, his father Timothy Lilley told Fox 5 Atlanta. All 67 people on board both aircraft are feared to be dead, officials say.
The collision happened Wednesday night as the American Airlines flight descended toward Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The aircraft collided over the Potomac River, where officials are now conducting recovery efforts.
Katie Hawkinson has the story.
Kelly Rissman30 January 2025 21:45
WATCH: Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov reflect on their career in 2018 interview
Kelly Rissman30 January 2025 21:30
Trump’s transportation secretary faces Washington plane crash crisis on his first full day in office
In the early morning hours of Thursday, Donald Trump’s new transportation secretary Sean Duffy approached the microphone at a press conference, as search and rescue crews scoured the Potomac River looking for survivors of a crash between a military helicopter and a commercial jet near Washington.
In his first full day in office after being confirmed on Tuesday, Duffy’s agency, the Department of Transportation, was now facing down the worst U.S. aviation disaster since 9/11.
“Listen, my focus is on those who are impacted on this flight and, again, I’ve been the secretary for a little over a day, and the tragedy that we’re going to deal with — with this recovery, I think, is touching everyone’s hearts, whether it’s here in the greater D.C. area or in Kansas,” he said, flanked by officials. “I think everyone here is thinking and praying for those who potentially have lost a loved one.”
Josh Marcus has the story.
Kelly Rissman30 January 2025 21:15
Democrats respond to Trump’s finger-pointing at their party and DEI initiatives
Kelly Rissman30 January 2025 21:00