Washington. Dozens of people — including more than a dozen figure skaters — were killed after a collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and an Army helicopter at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, DC. The plane was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members at the time. Three soldiers were on board the helicopter.

President Donald Trump said at a briefing on Thursday that there were no survivors.

“As one nation, we grieve for every precious soul that has been taken from us so suddenly,” Trump said at the White House.

“Sadly, there are no survivors” of the crash, he said.

Trump said it was still not clear what led to the crash. He said the US military and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.

“We’ll find out how this disaster occurred and will ensure that nothing like this ever happens again," he said.

The body of the plane was found upside down in three sections in waist-deep water. The wreckage of the helicopter was also found. At least 28 bodies were pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River. There was no immediate word on the cause of the collision, but officials said flight conditions were clear as the jet arrived from Wichita, Kansas.

US Figure Skating previously confirmed that several skaters, coaches and family members were on the commercial flight after attending a development camp that followed the national championships that ended Sunday in Wichita.

After opening a news conference with a moment of silence for the crash victims — Trump used most of his time at the podium to cast political blame.

Without evidence, Trump blamed air traffic controllers, the helicopter pilots and Democratic policies at federal agencies.

He also lashed out at the Federal Aviation Administration, saying the agency's diversity efforts had made air travel less safe.

The president asserted his opinion even though the crash has yet to be fully investigated and there has been no determination as to whether the FAA did anything wrong.

Trump also suggested he might make sweeping changes at federal aviation agencies. There could be firings “if we find that people aren’t mentally competent.”

“For some jobs,” Trump said, singling out air traffic controllers. “They have to be at the highest level of genius.”

Trump blamed previous administrations’ efforts to promote diversity at federal agencies for contributing to the crash. Asked why he thought that was an issue, he responded, “Because I have common sense.”

In response, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called Trump’s criticisms ‘despicable’.

“As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying,” Buttigieg posted on X shortly after President Donald Trump’s White House news conference.

He noted that when he led the agency, it “had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights on our watch.”

That followed Trump sharply criticizing Buttigieg and even resorting to profanity to denounce what he called Democratic-led efforts to promote diversity at federal agencies.

Trump said Buttigieg at the transportation department had “run it right into the ground with his diversity.”

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York says Trump spewing conspiracy theories about the crash “turns your stomach.”

“It’s one thing for internet pundits to spew off conspiracy theories, it’s another for the president of the United States,” Schumer said at the Capitol.

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