President Donald Trump has sparked controversy due to his comments about the deadly plane crash in Washington DC.
At a White House press conference last night, Trump confirmed there were 'no survivors' expected after an American Airlines plane collided with a military helicopter on Wednesday (29 January).
The politician then went on to seriously put his foot in it after making a joke about visiting the crash site in the US capital.
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The passenger jet, which had 64 people onboard, was approaching the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport when disaster struck.
It plunged into the Potomac River, as did the Bombardier CRJ700 which was carrying three military personnel.
Chilling audio recorded in the aftermath of the devastating crash then emerged, where an airline official can be heard describing a 'fireball' erupting in front of their eyes.
Trump initially described the incident as a 'terrible accident', but suggested it 'looks like it should have been prevented'.
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"The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport," he wrote on his social media site Truth Social yesterday. "The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time.
"It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didn't the helicopter go up or down, or turn. Why didn't the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane.
"This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!"
When asked during a conference whether he had any plans to visit the crash site, the president then cracked a controversial joke.
"I have a plan to visit, not the site," Trump said. "Because what, you tell me. What's the site? Water. We're going to go swimming?"
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Dozens of bodies have now been retrieved from the Potomac River, according to reports, however some still remain missing.
Trump said he is set to meet with the loved ones of some of the 67 victims who died in the fatal crash.
He also made a string of scathing comments about who was to blame for the mid-air tragedy.
Trump claimed that the Black Hawk helicopter did 'the opposite of what it was told' before the crash, before alleging that people suffering from 'severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities' had been hired as air traffic controllers.
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He promised to 'restore faith in American air travel' while heaping blame on his predecessor Joe Biden.
"My administration will set the highest possible bar for aviation safety," Trump said, while adding that a 'very special genius' is needed to coordinate air traffic.
"They have to be talented, naturally talented geniuses," he said. "You can’t have regular people doing their job."
Topics: Donald Trump, US News, Travel
Olivia Burke