Washington DC: United States President Donald Trump on Thursday sarcastically responded to a journalist's question on the deadly collision between a passenger aircraft and an Army chopper over the Potomac River in Washington DC. Notably, Trump made these remarks during a press briefing at the White House.
When the journalist asked Trump about his plans to visit the collision site, the US President in a sarcastic way said, "I have a plan to visit, not the site. Because you tell me, what’s the site? The water? You want me to go swimming?". The video clip of Trump's response soon went viral. Trump told a White House news conference that no one survived.
Video Clip Of Donald Trump's Response:
Notably. the mid-air collision between the passenger plane and the helicopter killed all 67 people aboard the two aircraft. It is the deadliest aviation disaster in the US in over two decades.
There were 60 passengers and four crew members onboard the passenger aircraft, while three soldiers were on the military chopper.
The rescue operation has been called off. "We are now at the point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation," said John Donnelly, the fire chief in the nation's capital, as reported by The Associated Press.
The crash occurred on Wednesday at around 9 pm (local time) over the Potomac River, just around five kilometres from the White House.
The incident took place as Flight 5342 was inbound to Reagan National at an altitude of about 400 feet and a speed of about 140 mph (225 kph) when it rapidly lost altitude over the Potomac, according to data from its radio transponder.
A few minutes before the crash, air traffic controllers reportedly directed the jet to a shorter runway, and flight-tracking sites showed that it adjusted its approach. Less than 30 seconds before the collision, an air traffic controller asked the helicopter if it had the arriving plane in sight.
However, the two aircraft collided just a few seconds later.
