DC plane crash could have been prevented
The H-60 BlackHawk helicopter collided with Flight 5342 that was on its final approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday evening. Rescue teams have not recovered any survivors from the freezing Potomac River.
'It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didn't the helicopter go up or down, or turn,'
Trump posted on his TruthSocial platform early on Thursday.
The president also questioned why the control tower had failed to instruct the helicopter crew what to do.
'This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!'
Trump added.
READ MORE:
Passenger jet collides with US Army Black Hawk: LIVE UPDATES
At 9pm local time, when the crash happened, the airport reported clear skies, with 16km visibility and winds from the northwest. The air temperature was 10C, but parts of the Potomac River were still frozen from an earlier cold snap.
The passenger jet was a Bombardier CRJ700 operated by PSA, a subsidiary of American Airlines. The flight from Wichita, Kansas was on landing approach to Runway 33, with 60 passengers and four crew members on board, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has said.
Among the passengers were several athletes, coaches and family members returning from the US Figure Skating Championships in Wichita.
Nearly 300 first responders were deployed to sift the wreckage for survivors, but found none as of Thursday morning. Operations were soon shifted from rescue to recovery.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Russia Today
27-07-2025
- Russia Today
Boeing 737 Max catches fire during landing (VIDEO)
An American Airlines flight carrying 179 people caught fire on the runway at Denver International Airport, prompting an emergency evacuation. The incident occurred Saturday evening when the Miami-bound Boeing 737 Max suffered a landing gear malfunction that led to a brake fire, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). One person was hospitalized with minor injuries, and five others were treated at the scene, airport officials said. Firefighters quickly extinguished the flames, and the aircraft was taken out of service for inspection. A replacement plane was arranged. Passengers described moments of panic after a loud bang was followed by smoke. 'The plane started vibrating and shaking really bad,' Shay Armistead told CNN. Another passenger said she saw 'flames coming out from under the plane' before the evacuation began. Video shared on X showed travelers using emergency slides to flee the aircraft as smoke billowed from the fuselage. This is becoming routine for airline travel. This is American Airlines in Denver. Rear wheels blew. The fire caused delays for more than 240 flights at Denver International, according to flight-tracking data. The FAA said it has opened an investigation. The incident comes amid heightened scrutiny of Boeing's 737 Max series. In January 2024, a door plug blew off an Alaska Airlines Max 9 mid-flight, prompting the FAA to ground the model, impose production limits, and require stricter inspections - measures that remain in place. Denver's airport has seen other recent safety scares, including an engine fire on another American Airlines jet in March and a United Airlines plane that caught fire after hitting an animal in April.
Russia Today
05-06-2025
- Russia Today
Trump views Zelensky as ‘bad guy'
US President Donald Trump is frustrated with Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky, seeing him as a 'bad guy' who is pushing the world closer to nuclear conflict, the New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing sources. Unnamed Trump advisers told the NYT that the president is 'exasperated' with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelensky, but 'reserves special animosity' for the Ukrainian leader, who he has publicly criticized on several occasions. Although Trump has said it is 'understandable' that Ukraine wants to keep fighting, his stance toward Zelensky is notably harsher than toward Putin, the report says. The US president reportedly tends to be more deferential to his Russian counterpart, and previously believed that their 'very, very good relationship' would help end the conflict. Because of this, he has thus far refrained from imposing new sanctions on Moscow. On Wednesday, the two leaders held a 75-minute phone conversation in which Trump said they discussed Ukraine's recent attack on Russian airbases that reportedly host strategic aircraft. 'President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields,' Trump said. The Kremlin confirmed the conversation. Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said Putin informed Trump of Ukraine's efforts to derail peace talks between Moscow and Kiev, including 'terrorist' attacks on civilian targets. Ushakov was apparently referring to incidents of railroad sabotage in the regions of Bryansk and Kursk in which seven people died and more than 100 were injured. Following the call, Zelensky posted a statement on Telegram, saying: 'If the world reacts weakly to Putin's threats, then he perceives this as the world's readiness to turn a blind eye to his actions… If the strong do not stop Putin, it means that they share responsibility with him.' Trump previously engaged in a public spat with Zelensky when the two met at the White House in late February. At the time, the US president accused Zelensky of 'gambling with World War III,' and of being 'disrespectful' and ungrateful for American support.
Russia Today
04-06-2025
- Russia Today
Zuma criticizes Trump over genocide claims
Former president Jacob Zuma has affirmed that there is no genocide in South Africa, describing US President Donald Trump as a loudmouth who doesn't know what he is talking about. 'There is no genocide in South Africa, nothing, absolutely nothing. I take it that when people talk about genocide, it is when many people die. There is nothing of that nature in South Africa,' said Zuma during a media briefing in Durban on Tuesday. '[Trump] just talks when he wants to talk, anything. I thought he would know better what genocide is. Now, for him to say so, it's just a joke really,' he added. Zuma told journalists in a media briefing in Durban on Tuesday that Trump was the least of his concerns when he was asked about his views on the US president. 'Why should I worry myself about Trump? We have serious problems here to fix this country. No, I'm not going to talk about that,' Zuma said. President Cyril Ramaphosa recently led a South African delegation to Washington in a bid to reset bilateral relations between the two nations. This comes after organisations claimed that there was a genocide against the white Afrikaners. The government clarified to the US that there was no evidence of genocide in the country. Meanwhile, the MK Party has removed Floyd Shivambu as the secretary-general, confirming that he will be deployed in published by IOL
