President Donald Trump. Inset: Screengrab of Truth Social post
Reuters and X/@AndrewFeinberg
Washington: U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday the Army Black Hawk helicopter that collided with a regional passenger jet in Washington, D.C. was flying too high at the time of the accident, in what appeared to be a major disclosure about the investigation.
The Army did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
U.S. military helicopters regularly fly a route over the Potomac river near the busy Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, known as Route 4. For safety reasons, the altitude on those helicopter flights is capped at 200 feet (61 meters).
"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???" Trump said in a Truth Social post. The crash remains under investigation by federal transportation authorities.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Thursday that there appeared to have been an elevation issue with the Black Hawk, and said Army investigators were on the ground looking into the matter.
But Hegseth and the Army have said the three member crew of soldiers on the Black Hawk were experienced. The Army said the instructor pilot, who was the designated pilot in command, had 1,000 flying hours while the other pilot had 500 hours.
The third soldier was a crew chief, typically riding in the back of the helicopter.
The helicopter was from the 12th Aviation Battalion, which is based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. The unit is responsible for helicopter flights in the U.S. capital area and regularly transports senior U.S. government officials.