Zürcher Nachrichten - Trump blames 'diversity' for deadly Washington airliner collision

EUR -
AED 3.843843
AFN 75.87552
ALL 98.737818
AMD 412.750994
ANG 1.886947
AOA 959.122593
ARS 1107.606604
AUD 1.643143
AWG 1.883702
AZN 1.783207
BAM 1.955961
BBD 2.113974
BDT 127.210489
BGN 1.958047
BHD 0.394366
BIF 3100.740843
BMD 1.046501
BND 1.399509
BOB 7.234596
BRL 5.978705
BSD 1.046986
BTN 90.408022
BWP 14.411706
BYN 3.426466
BYR 20511.425178
BZD 2.103173
CAD 1.488492
CDF 3003.459065
CHF 0.939094
CLF 0.025701
CLP 986.265085
CNY 7.593456
CNH 7.585691
COP 4274.957748
CRC 528.841077
CUC 1.046501
CUP 27.732284
CVE 110.667923
CZK 25.07114
DJF 185.98462
DKK 7.458708
DOP 65.305745
DZD 141.071555
EGP 52.93183
ERN 15.697519
ETB 132.281816
FJD 2.399785
FKP 0.82779
GBP 0.827793
GEL 2.935478
GGP 0.82779
GHS 16.257439
GIP 0.82779
GMD 74.828872
GNF 9058.515491
GTQ 8.080666
GYD 219.638109
HKD 8.130745
HNL 26.931752
HRK 7.537325
HTG 137.42133
HUF 403.387566
IDR 17051.430306
ILS 3.732389
IMP 0.82779
INR 90.627378
IQD 1370.916683
IRR 44057.704449
ISK 145.683848
JEP 0.82779
JMD 165.173619
JOD 0.742183
JPY 155.997241
KES 135.525894
KGS 91.516939
KHR 4201.703024
KMF 491.336323
KPW 941.862294
KRW 1503.492739
KWD 0.322867
KYD 0.872543
KZT 529.451124
LAK 22714.310747
LBP 93714.190399
LKR 309.544043
LRD 207.207619
LSL 19.203698
LTL 3.090047
LVL 0.633019
LYD 5.131794
MAD 10.415308
MDL 19.536957
MGA 4939.486426
MKD 61.58598
MMK 2196.548065
MNT 3626.183088
MOP 8.380091
MRU 42.048818
MUR 48.432475
MVR 16.126981
MWK 1811.494085
MXN 21.299179
MYR 4.62397
MZN 66.882292
NAD 19.203693
NGN 1571.709279
NIO 38.469781
NOK 11.633547
NPR 144.653236
NZD 1.821064
OMR 0.402898
PAB 1.046986
PEN 3.854792
PGK 4.058859
PHP 60.570488
PKR 292.340526
PLN 4.158896
PYG 8261.68118
QAR 3.810351
RON 4.978106
RSD 117.165277
RUB 92.865451
RWF 1464.055297
SAR 3.92448
SBD 8.821212
SCR 15.058147
SDG 628.947627
SEK 11.128416
SGD 1.398026
SHP 0.831577
SLE 23.864067
SLL 21944.614587
SOS 598.079317
SRD 37.216765
STD 21660.463713
SVC 9.161755
SYP 13606.466853
SZL 19.203685
THB 35.102832
TJS 11.412441
TMT 3.67322
TND 3.30302
TOP 2.451015
TRY 38.17365
TTD 7.114553
TWD 34.302259
TZS 2711.485179
UAH 43.571693
UGX 3844.316966
USD 1.046501
UYU 45.213728
UZS 13546.959479
VES 66.063366
VND 26711.945289
VUV 129.294577
WST 2.956218
XAF 655.989147
XAG 0.032067
XAU 0.000356
XCD 2.828222
XDR 0.798962
XOF 657.203154
XPF 119.331742
YER 258.747823
ZAR 19.177921
ZMK 9419.771116
ZMW 29.499432
ZWL 336.972987
  • RBGPF

    2.3700

    67.22

    +3.53%

  • SCS

    -0.0800

    12.35

    -0.65%

  • RELX

    -1.0600

    49.35

    -2.15%

  • AZN

    0.6600

    74.17

    +0.89%

  • NGG

    0.1200

    61.22

    +0.2%

  • RIO

    -0.8400

    63.45

    -1.32%

  • RYCEF

    -0.1300

    7.7

    -1.69%

  • CMSC

    -0.0250

    23.375

    -0.11%

  • CMSD

    -0.0140

    23.456

    -0.06%

  • BCC

    -9.4790

    107.001

    -8.86%

  • BP

    -0.2650

    33.905

    -0.78%

  • GSK

    0.0257

    36.585

    +0.07%

  • BCE

    0.3950

    23.965

    +1.65%

  • BTI

    -0.7050

    37.845

    -1.86%

  • JRI

    -0.0200

    12.8

    -0.16%

  • VOD

    0.0900

    8.35

    +1.08%

Trump blames 'diversity' for deadly Washington airliner collision
Trump blames 'diversity' for deadly Washington airliner collision / Photo: Andrew CABALLERO-REYNOLDS - AFP

Trump blames 'diversity' for deadly Washington airliner collision

US President Donald Trump -- speaking as the bodies of 67 people were being pulled from Washington's Potomac River -- launched an extraordinary political attack Thursday, blaming diversity hires for the midair collision between an airliner and a military helicopter.

Text size:

The Republican confirmed the deaths of all those aboard both aircraft, and also cited pilot error on the helicopter in the nighttime crash.

But he chiefly used a press conference to open fire at what he said were left-wing diversity practices under his predecessors Joe Biden and Barack Obama that he said kept out good employees at the Federal Aviation Administration.

"I put safety first. Obama, Biden and the Democrats put policy first," Trump said. "They actually came out with a directive: 'too white.' And we want the people that are competent."

As Trump spoke in the White House, police divers searched for more bodies in the water.

Wreckage of the Bombardier jet operated by an American Airlines subsidiary protruded from the surface, surrounded by emergency vessels and diving teams. It had been carrying 64 people.

The army Blackhawk helicopter, which had three soldiers aboard, was also in the river.

"We are now at a point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation," Washington Fire Chief John Donnelly said. Twenty eight bodies had already been found.

The collision -- the first major crash in the United States since 2009 when 49 people were killed near Buffalo, New York -- occurred late evening on Wednesday as the airliner came into land at Reagan National Airport after a routine flight from Wichita, Kansas.

Reagan National is a major airport located only a short distance from downtown Washington, the Pentagon and other major sites in the capital. The airspace is extremely busy, with civilian and military aircraft a constant presence.

Dramatic audio from air traffic controllers showed them repeatedly asking the helicopter if it had the passenger jet "in sight," and then just before the crash telling it to "pass behind" the plane.

- Trump politicizes crash -

Trump opened his press conference by speaking of the nation's "anguish" and said that the investigation would take time.

However, he then launched into an extended broadside against so-called diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

Trump -- who began his presidency a week ago with an onslaught against decades-old measures aimed at preventing sexism and racism in the United States -- singled out Biden's openly gay transport secretary Pete Buttigieg.

"He's run it right into the ground with his diversity," Trump said.

The message was hammered home as Trump's vice president, JD Vance, and new defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, took turns at the podium to repeat that diversity measures kept capable Americans out of responsible jobs.

Asked again by reporters whether he was blaming workplace diversity for the crash, Trump answered: "It could have been."

- Skaters among victims -

Hundreds of rescuers were rapidly at the scene, but found themselves battling darkness and floating ice through the night. Some of the debris was found a mile downriver.

Among those on the airliner were several US skaters and coaches, US Figure Skating said. Officials in Moscow also confirmed the presence of Russian couple Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who won the 1994 world pairs title.

The violence of the collision soon made it clear that survivors were unlikely.

"I just saw a fireball and it was gone," one air traffic controller was heard telling a colleague after communication with the helicopter was cut.

- What happened? -

Hegseth said the Black Hawk chopper had "a fairly experienced crew that was doing a required annual night evaluation."

"Do I think this was preventable? Absolutely," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.

Trump, in addition to blaming racial and other kinds of diversity policies, offered extended remarks on the flight paths.

The helicopter was "going at an angle that was unbelievably bad," Trump said.

"The air traffic controller said, 'Do you see... Do you see him?' But there was very little time left when that was stated," the president added, blaming a "confluence of bad decisions."

A.Ferraro--NZN