New video emerges of midair collision as Trump says chopper flew too high

Meanwhile, Trump continued to front run the crash investigation, posting on his TruthSocial platform: “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???”

Hegseth was more circumspect.

“We’re looking at altitude. The president was clear about that … someone was at the wrong altitude,” Hegseth told Fox News. “Was the Black Hawk too high? Was it on course? At the moment, we don’t quite know.”

Other questions investigators would probe involved whether the crew were wearing night vision glasses and whether their depth perception was adequate.

While signing executive orders at the Oval Office, Trump was asked if he was concerned his commentary on the crash could undermine the investigation.

“No, I think they’ll do an investigation, it’ll probably come out the way I said it. I like to put it up front,” he said. “I’m so tired of listening to things happen to our country and then people say we’ll do an investigation and three years later they come out with a report that nobody looks at.”

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Trump was simply stating the helicopter was flying higher than it should have been, “which is one of the reasons that led to this collision”.

She also defended his controversial remarks blaming – without evidence – diversity hiring practices implemented by the Biden administration. Asked whether the controller handling incoming traffic at the airport that night was hired or not fired based on their race, Leavitt said: “That investigation is ongoing.”

Officials said 41 bodies had been recovered from the frigid Potomac River as of Friday afternoon. In total, 67 people are presumed dead – 60 passengers and four crew on the American Airlines flight, and three helicopter pilots. That makes it the deadliest US air disaster since an American Airlines jet crashed after take-off from New York in November 2001.

District of Columbia fire chief John Connelly said recovery of more bodies would be likely to require removal of the fuselage first.

Victims continue to be identified, including Kiah Duggins, a civil rights lawyer and incoming professor at Howard University in Washington, and Lindsey Fields, president-elect of the National Association of Biology Teachers.

Broader concerns have resurfaced about the congested airspace at Reagan airport, which is close to downtown Washington and surrounded by military bases. Officials said the helicopter was conducting a routine “continuation of government” training exercise – or practising for an emergency.

Last year, Congress agreed to increase flight slots at the airport despite concerns about congested airspace, raised repeatedly by figures such as Virginia Senator Tim Kaine.

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On Friday, airport vice-president and manager Terrence Liercke dodged questions from Australia’s Nine News about whether he had concerns about congestion, and whether he had raised concerns with the FAA.

Liercke also refused to comment on staffing at the air traffic control tower, saying it was outside his scope of responsibility, and directing all questions to the FAA.

Several US news reports have cited an FAA preliminary report that said the staffing configuration at Reagan airport that night was “not normal”, with one controller responsible for both civilian planes and military helicopters.

The duties would typically be separated at that time. However, National Air Traffic Controllers Association president Nick Daniels told CNN it was “not uncommon” for such positions to be combined.

With AP

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