An enormous tragedy struck the United States on Wednesday night. In fact, America suffered its largest aircraft fatality event since 9/11.
An army helicopter carrying three slides collided with an American Airlines plane over Washington D.C., resulting in an explosion and sending the plane plunging into the Potomac River.
According to a report from ESPN, the plan carried 60 passengers and four crew members. The passengers were members of the United States figure skating team, and the team released an official statement after the news broke.
“U.S. Figure Skating can confirm that several members of our skating community were sadly aboard American Airlines Flight 5342, which collided with a helicopter yesterday evening in Washington, D.C.
“We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts.”
President Trump questioned on his social media platform, Truth Social, why the helicopter didn’t avoid the plane.
“The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport. 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!!!”
However, some are blaming Trump himself for what occurred, due to policies and decisions he has recently implemented since his return to the Oval Office.
‘”YOU DID THIS (President Trump). On your 2ND DAY, you: 1. Fired the head of the Transportation Security Administration 2. Fired the entire Aviation Security Advisory Committee 3. Froze hiring of all Air Traffic Controllers 4. Fired 100 top FAA security officers,” one prominent Twitter user posted in a post that has since gone viral.
Prevented? YOU DID THIS @realDonaldTrump.
On your 2ND DAY, you:
1. Fired the head of the Transportation Security Administration
2. Fired the entire Aviation Security Advisory Committee
3. Froze hiring of all Air Traffic Controllers
4. Fired 100 top FAA security officers pic.twitter.com/N6S7p8NGcf
— Andrew—New YouTube Channel @LiveFromTheResistance (@AmoneyResists) January 30, 2025
People reacted to the allegations against the President on social media.
“Nobody, in the federal workforce can concentrate on their jobs with the mass firings and chaos. Expect much worse going forward,” one person wrote on Twitter.
“The question they will not answer is with all these so called savings. What are the taxpayers getting back,” someone else asked.
“Remember when MAGA blamed Buttigieg for every catastrophe involving planes, trains and automobiles?” another person wanted to know.
Hopefully, investigators can determine exactly what led to the horrific incident.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.