US President Donald Trump claimed that the Black Hawk helicopter that collided with a plane near Reagan National Airport in Washington was “flying well above the permitted altitude.”
A mid-air collision occurred between an American Airlines plane and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport outside Washington, DC on Wednesday night. The collision resulted in both aircraft crashing into the Potomac River. US authorities have confirmed that all 67 people are feared to be dead.
In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump said that the aircraft had exceeded the 200-foot limit, suggesting that this incident played a key factor in the crash.
Sharing a post on the social media platform Truth Social, Trump wrote, “The Blackhawk helicopter was flying too high, by a lot. It was far above the 200-foot limit. That’s not really too complicated to understand, is it???”
Meanwhile, more than 40 bodies have been recovered from the Potomac River following the plane crash, officials confirmed to The Hill’s partner station NewsNation.
Recovery divers were focusing on salvaging the aircraft and parts from the Potomac River on Friday as investigators examined the collision, Washington fire officials said, according to The New York Times report.
Notably, a day earlier, The New York Times in a report said that the military helicopter that collided with an American Airlines regional jet on Wednesday night appeared to have been flying too high and outside its approved flight path at the time of the crash.
Citing sources, the report said that the Army Black Hawk helicopter was meant to fly at a lower altitude and in a different area while navigating the congested airspace around Reagan National Airport.
Before a helicopter can enter any busy commercial airspace, it must get the approval of an air traffic controller. In this case, the pilot of the helicopter asked the air traffic controller for permission to use a specific, predetermined route that lets helicopters fly no higher than 200 feet and that hugs the bank on the east side of the Potomac River, a location that would have let it avoid the American Airlines plane, The New York Times reported.
The requested route, known as Route 4 at Reagan, was a route familiar to both the air traffic controller and the helicopter pilot. The pilot visually identified the American Airlines plane, and the controller directed the helicopter to follow the assigned route and stay behind the aircraft.
However, according to individuals briefed on the situation, the pilot did not adhere to the planned path. Instead of maintaining an altitude below 200 feet, the helicopter was flying above 300 feet and was at least half a mile off course when it collided with the jet.
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