The United States President, Donald Trump has said the Army Black Hawk helicopter that collided with a regional passenger jet in Washington, D.C., was flying too high at the time the incident occurred.
Trump stated this on Friday on his social media platform, Truth.
U.S. military helicopters are said to regularly fly a route over the Potomac River near the busy Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, known as Route 4.
It was gathered that 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.
The crash, in which 67 people died, remains under investigation by federal transportation authorities.
Meanwhile, U.S Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth has acknowledged that there may have been an elevation issue with the Black Hawk.
However, speaking earlier on Friday, before Trump’s remarks, Hegseth said it was still inconclusive.
“We’re looking at altitude and the president was clear about that: someone was at the wrong altitude. The investigation will help us understand that. Was the Black Hawk too high, was it on course? Right now, we don’t quite know,” he said.
According to the Army, the instructor pilot, who was the designated pilot in command, had 1,000 flying hours while the other pilot had 500 hours.
The helicopter was said to be from the 12th Aviation Battalion, which is based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia.
