President Donald Trump speaks on the deadliest U.S. major commercial aviation incident in 16 years. No one is believed to have survived a collision between a commercial aircraft and an Army helicopter by Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington D.C.
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00:00I'd like to request a moment of silence for the victims and their families, please.
00:10I speak to you this morning in an hour of anguish for our nation.
00:16Just before 9 p.m. last night, an American Airlines regional jet carrying 60 passengers
00:22and four crew collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter carrying three military service
00:28members over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., while on final approach to Reagan National
00:34Airport.
00:36Both aircraft crashed instantly and were immediately submerged into the icy waters of the Potomac.
00:42Real tragedy.
00:44The massive search and rescue mission was underway throughout the night, leveraging
00:49every asset at our disposal, and I have to say the local, state, federal, military, including
00:56the United States Coast Guard in particular, they've done a phenomenal job.
01:01So quick, so fast, it was mobilized immediately.
01:06The work has now shifted to a recovery mission.
01:11Sadly, there are no survivors.
01:15This was a dark and excruciating night in our nation's capital and in our nation's history
01:21and a tragedy of terrible proportions.
01:24As one nation, we grieve for every precious soul that has been taken from us so suddenly.
01:32And we are a country of, really, we are in mourning.
01:36This has really shaken a lot of people, including people, very sadly, from other nations who
01:42were on the flight.
01:44For the family members back in Wichita, Kansas, here in Washington, D.C., and throughout the
01:49United States.
01:50And in Russia, we have a Russia contingent, some very talented people.
01:56Unfortunately, we're on that plane.
01:58Very, very, very sorry about that.
02:00Whose loved ones were aboard the passenger jet.
02:03We can only begin to imagine the agony that you're all feeling.
02:08Nothing worse.
02:10On behalf of the First Lady, myself, and 340 million Americans, our hearts are shattered
02:15alongside yours and our prayers are with you now.
02:18And in the days to come, we'll be working very, very diligently in the days to come.
02:23We're here for you to wipe away the tears and to offer you our devotion, our love, and
02:28our support.
02:29We do not know what led to this crash, but we have some very strong opinions and ideas.
02:35And I think we'll probably state those opinions now.
02:39Because over the years, I've watched as things like this happen and they say, well, we're
02:42always investigating.
02:44And then the investigation three years later, they announce it.
02:46We think we have some pretty good ideas, but we'll find out how this disaster occurred
02:52and we'll ensure that nothing like this ever happens again.
02:57The FAA and the NTSB and the U.S. military will be carrying out a systematic and comprehensive
03:03investigation on our new Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, his second day on the job.
03:11When that happens, it's a rough one.
03:15I'm also immediately appointing an acting commissioner to the FAA, Christopher Rochelieu,
03:22a 22-year veteran of the agency, highly respected.
03:26Christopher, thank you very much.
03:28Appreciate it.
03:29And my administration will set the highest possible bar for aviation safety.
03:33We have to have our smartest people.
03:36It doesn't matter what they look like, how they speak, who they are.
03:40It matters intellect, talent, the word talent.
03:43They have to be talented, naturally talented geniuses.
03:47You can't have regular people doing that job.
03:50They won't be able to do it.
03:52But we'll restore faith in American air travel.
03:55I'll have more to say about that.