Washington DC [US], January 31 : Following the mid-air collision between an American Airlines plane and a US Army helicopter in which all 67 are feared dead, US President Donald Trump on Thursday blamed former Democratic Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama for lowering air safety standards.
Trump blamed Obama and Biden for 'putting' policy first instead of the safety of the citizens. He emphasised that the job requires people with "superior intelligence."
"Democrats put policy first and they put politics at a level that nobody's ever seen," Trump said during the press briefing.
"They actually came out with a directive too white and we want the people that are competent," He added
Blaming Obama and Biden for the "mediocre" air safety standards, Trump said, "I changed the Obama standards from very mediocre at best to extraordinary. You remember that only the highest intellect and psychologically superior people were allowed to qualify for air traffic controllers which was not so before getting there when I arrived in 2016. I made that change very early on because I always felt this was a job that and other jobs too but this was a job that had to be superior intelligence and we didn't really have that. When I left office and Biden took over he changed them back to lower than ever before."
Acknowledging the impact on families across the United States and abroad, including Russian nationals on board, he assured that efforts would be made to determine the cause of the disaster and prevent such incidents in the future.
"Sadly, there are no survivors. This was a dark and excruciating night in our nation's capital and in our nation's history and a tragedy of terrible proportions as we grieve for every precious soul that has been taken from us so suddenly. This is really shaking a lot of people, including people from other nations," Trump said.
"We had a Russian contingent (on plane), some very talented people. Unfortunately, they were on that plane and we are very sorry about that. We do not know what led to this crash, but we have some very strong opinions and ideas. We will find out how this disaster occurred and we will ensure that nothing like this ever happens again," Trump added.
Earlier in the day, the US authorities confirmed that they no longer expect to find any survivors, and efforts have shifted to a recovery mission, according to DC Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly, according to a report by CNN.
A press briefing was held at Reagan National Airport, where Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser addressed the deadly collision involving an American Airlines passenger plane carrying 64 people and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter with three soldiers on board.
"We are now at a point where we're switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation. At this point, we don't believe there are any survivors from this accident," Donnelly said in a news conference on Thursday.
A mid-air collision occurred between a 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.
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