Trump blames diversity policies after DC plane crash
What's the story
United States President Donald Trump has blamed diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives under Democratic administrations for the plane and helicopter collision in Washington, DC.
"I put safety first, Obama, Biden and the Democrats put policy first, and they put politics at a level that nobody's ever seen," Trump told reporters in the White House briefing room.
"This is the first major commercial airline crash in the United States since 2009," Trump added.
Executive actions
Trump criticizes past administrations, appoints new FAA commissioner
Trump slammed previous administrations for putting politics over safety and claimed a faction in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) "determined that the workforce was too white, that they had concerted efforts to get the administration to change that and to change it immediately."
Addressing these concerns, Trump then signed an executive order appointing Christopher Rocheleau as acting commissioner of the FAA.
He also signed another order reversing what he called "Biden administration's DEI and woke policies."
Hiring process
DEI programs do not apply to air traffic control hiring
"We want the most competent people. We don't care what race they are," the US president said.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said such incidents shouldn't happen and promised reforms to avoid future mistakes.
"We will not accept passing the buck. We are going to take responsibility at the Department of Transportation and the FAA to make sure we have the reforms that have been dictated by President Trump in place to make sure that these mistakes do not happen again."
Reforms pledged
'Deadliest aviation disaster' in the US since 2001
The cause of this horrific aircraft disaster is unknown, however National Transportation Safety Board investigators have stated that a preliminary report will be released within 30 days.
With 67 passengers thought killed on both the American Airlines flight and the army Black Hawk helicopter, the accident has been dubbed "the deadliest aviation disaster" in the United States since 2001.
At least 28 remains have been retrieved from the Potomac River, and recovery operations are still ongoing.