This image taken from video provided by WABI television, emergency cervices work on a scene of the Bombardier Challenger 600 crash at the Bangor Airport in Maine, late on January 25, 2026.
| Photo Credit: AP

Smoke rises from the wreackage of a UPS MD-11 cargo jet after it crashed on departure from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S., November 4, 2025. Photo credits: USA Today Network via REUTERS.

President Donald Trump wasted little time this week trying to assign blame for the nation’s deadliest air disaster in more than two decades. Among his chief targets: An FAA diversity hiring initiative he suggested had undermined the agency’s effectiveness.

“But certainly, for an air traffic controller, we want the brightest, the smartest, the sharpest. We want somebody that’s psychologically superior,” Mr. Trump said at a news conference Thursday, January 30, 2025.

No evidence has emerged that rules seeking to diversify the FAA played any role in the collision Wednesday (January 29, 2025) between an American Airlines regional jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter that killed 67 people.

Nevertheless, Mr. Trump’s comments drew attention to the agency’s attempts to address its most pressing and long-standing problem – a persistent shortage of air traffic controllers who are critical to keeping the nation’s skies safe.

How has Trump tied diversity hiring to the collision?

Mr. Trump is using this week’s disaster as another opportunity to push back against diversity programmes, after signing executive orders that banned such initiatives across the federal government. That included one specifically for the secretary of transportation and the federal aviation administrator.

During the White House press briefing, Mr. Trump said the FAA diversity programme allowed for hiring people with hearing and vision issues, as well as paralysis, epilepsy and “dwarfism.”

“The FAA is actively recruiting workers who suffer severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative spelled out on the agency’s website,” he said.

The FAA’s own data shows people with such disabilities make up only a tiny fraction of air traffic controllers. And there is no indication that investigators into the crash are focused on diversity hiring or staffers with disabilities.

Later Thursday (January 30, 2025), Mr. Trump doubled down on his criticism by signing a presidential memorandum on aviation safety he said would undo “damage” done to federal agencies by the Biden administration’s diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Are FAA diversity initiatives part of the investigation?

Asked Thursday (January 30, 2025) about Mr. Trump’s comments, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said her team examines all factors in any investigation, “the human, the machine and the environment.” She said that means looking at the people involved, the aircraft and the environment in which they were operating.

“That is standard,” she said.

Mr. Trump’s remarks drew strong rebukes from Democrats and civil rights leaders.

“There are still bodies being pulled from the Potomac River. Families are grieving the loss of loved ones. Yet Donald Trump is baselessly blaming DEI for last night’s tragic collision,” said Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat who lost both legs while flying Black Hawk helicopters in the Iraq War, referring to diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

“Absolutely shameful,” Ms. Duckworth said on the X social media platform.

Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego, a Marine veteran, was blunt in his response to Mr. Trump’s remarks. “DEI did not cause this tragedy,” he said on X.

Groups representing disabled workers issued a joint statement saying they were dismayed by the scapegoating, noting that anyone hired under the FAA’s diversity initiative had to meet its stringent qualifications.

“The implication that people are being hired to do a job for which they are unqualified is an unfounded lie that further reinforces harmful stereotypes against disabled people,” it said.

What’s behind the FAA’s recruitment strategy?

The FAA has long-faced a shortage of air traffic controllers, which was compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. Ms. Homendy told a Senate panel in 2023 that a surge in close calls between planes at U.S. airports that year was a “clear warning sign” the aviation system was stressed.

The FAA’s diversity efforts aren’t new and were not started under the Biden administration.

Before Mr. Trump removed them from the agency’s website after taking office this month, they had been promoted since at least 2013, including during Mr. Trump’s first term. Similar language seeking candidates with disabilities was on the site during both Biden’s term and Mr. Trump’s first term. Disabilities identified for special emphasis in hiring included conditions such as paralysis, epilepsy or missing extremities.

The FAA during Mr. Trump’s first term launched a pilot programme to prepare people with disabilities for jobs in air traffic operations.

A 2019 announcement detailed a programme to enroll up to 20 people with targeted disabilities in up to a year of training at air traffic control centers, with the potential to be appointed to a temporary position at the FAA’s academy. It noted candidates were subject to the same rigorous standards for aptitude, medical and security qualifications as any other candidates. A federal report from 2023 describes the qualifications.

What do aviation experts say about the FAA’s recruitment programme?

The FAA says its Aviation Development Programme for hiring diverse candidates into “mission critical occupations” required them to meet the same qualifications as any other applicant.

Former FAA administrator Michael Whitaker said last year that the FAA seeks qualified candidates from a range of sources who must “meet rigorous qualifications” that vary by position.

Paul Hanges, a professor of industrial and organizational psychology at the University of Maryland, helped compile a report for the FAA in 2013 documenting barriers for women and minorities. The agency followed up by hiring a consulting firm to find the root causes, which led to changes in the testing and hiring process – but Mr. Hanges said that did not lower hiring standards.

“It was the same kind of protocol, the same cognitive test, but a different version of it,” he said. “One thing I know about the FAA is they take public safety very seriously. So, I’d be surprised that they systematically did stuff that would have put the flying public in danger. I always got the impression that was job one.”

He called Mr. Trump’s assertion that this week’s crash is related to diversity efforts “an illogical leap.”

“It is something that is consistent with his message, but we don’t have the data,” he said.

How have the FAA’s recruitment efforts worked?

The agency’s recruitment programmes have resulted in a modest deepening of its workforce diversity over the years. Progress has been especially slow in roles it considers “mission critical,” including air traffic controllers.

The FAA’s overall workforce of more than 44,000 employees remains predominately male, according to a 2023 FAA report on the status of its Equal Employment Opportunity programme.

Among its nearly 18,000 air traffic controllers, more than 80% were men. White men constituted the biggest percentage of air traffic controllers at 64%, the report said.

The FAA’s overall workforce also remained predominately white, with racial minorities making up 30% of its employees.

About 2% of the FAA’s overall workforce are people with more severe disabilities. Among air traffic controllers, less than 1% are people with such disabilities.

The claims that diversity efforts factored into this week’s crash come after Mr. Trump surrogates blamed other recent crises, including the wildfires that devastated Los Angeles, on diversity, equity and inclusion policies, although there has been no evidence to support that.

It’s a focus that has generated anger among those who feel Mr. Trump and his allies are quick to use horrific disasters to further their political agenda.

Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin specifically called out Mr. Trump for quickly pointing the finger this week at the FAA’s diversity programmes: “The American people deserve real answers, not narcissistic speculations.”

Washington:

A small airplane carrying a pediatric patient and five others crashed in Philadelphia today, causing a massive explosion and sparking fire in the area. The Springfield-Branson National Airport bound plane had taken off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport.

According to Federal Aviation Administration, Learjet 55 executive aircraft with six people aboard crashed into a densely-populated district of the city with homes, shops and busy roads. There are no immediate reports of casualties.

Several videos of the crash circulating on online show a massive explosion erupting when the incident happened.

A ring doorbell camera video captured the moment the plane went down, hitting a row of houses in a massive fireball and causing an explosion and multiple house fires.

Ring doorbell camera video of the Plane crash in Philadelphia near Roosevelt Mall at Cottman and the Boulevard in Northeast Philadelphia. The crash ignited a massive explosion, setting several homes on fire.

That plane appears to be on fire before impact! pic.twitter.com/Ig4EWoLRMZ

— Fredrick Van Hook (@F_VANHOOK) February 1, 2025

A dashcam video, that in now going viral on social media, shows the plane going down and then a massive explosion occurring, leading to fire in nearby areas.

Plane crash on Cottman Ave, Philadelphia pic.twitter.com/FCWOCaQVNo

— SJ (@as1lmhsa) February 1, 2025

Another video, which appears to be recorded from inside a car, shows a fireball crashing down with a burst of light covering the area.

First hand video of what happened in northeast Philadelphia pic.twitter.com/LJt912Tw6l

— Darren Minto (@FB_Darren) February 1, 2025

“We are offering all resources as (emergency services) respond to the small private plane crash in Northeast Philly,” Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro wrote on X.

“We’ll continue to provide updates as more information is available.”

The crash comes just two days after a passenger jet and military helicopter collided off Washington’s Reagan National Airport, killing 67 people in the deadliest US air disaster in almost a quarter century.

Washington, United States:

Investigators on Thursday recovered the black boxes from a passenger plane whose mid-air collision with a military helicopter over Washington’s Potomac river killed 67 people, as rescuers pulled victims’ bodies from the freezing water.

US President Donald Trump launched a political attack blaming diversity and inclusion policies championed by his Democratic predecessors for causing the incident.

Trump’s politicization of the tragedy came as the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it had recovered the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the Bombardier jet operated by an American Airlines subsidiary that smashed into an Army Black Hawk helicopter late Wednesday.

“The recorders are at the NTSB labs for evaluation,” the agency said in a statement to AFP.

According to a New York Times report, staffing was thin in the control tower at Reagan National Airport, where the airliner was about to land when the collision occurred. 

One controller, rather than the usual two, was handling both plane and helicopter traffic, the Times quoted a preliminary Federal Aviation Administration report as saying.

A fireball erupted in the night sky and both aircraft tumbled into the icy Potomac, leaving rescue crews with the grim, difficult task of searching for bodies in the dark and cold.

Over 40 bodies had been recovered as of Thursday evening, according to US media reports.

Trump politicizes crash 

Trump, who took office 10 days ago, turned a press conference on the disaster into a platform for his crusade against diversity, equity and inclusion or DEI — a series of often decades-old measures meant to combat racism and sexism across the United States.

Accusing his Democratic predecessors Joe Biden and Barack Obama of having kept good employees out of the aviation agency in pursuit of DEI, he claimed: “They actually came out with a directive: ‘too white.’ And we want the people that are competent.”

The passenger plane was carrying 64 people and the Black Hawk had three aboard.

The collision — the first major crash in the United States since 2009 when 49 people were killed near Buffalo, New York — occurred as American Eagle Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas came in to land.

Reagan National is a major airport located a short distance from downtown Washington, the White House and the Pentagon. The airspace is extremely busy, with civilian and military aircraft a constant presence.

Trump opened his White House press conference by speaking of the nation’s anguish.

However, he then launched into an extended broadside against DEI, aiming directly at Biden’s openly gay transportation 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 — without evidence — the hard-right theory that diversity measures keep 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.”

Buttigieg responded on X, calling Trump “despicable.”

“As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying,” he said.

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy posted that Trump’s comments “blaming the FAA’s hiring of women and black people for the crash — was disgusting.”

“He’s in charge. This happened on his watch,” Murphy said.

Trump doubled down, however, later issuing an official memo directing the government to investigate “deterioration in hiring standards” under Biden and “replacement” of anyone unqualified.

Skaters among victims

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.

Two Chinese citizens were also among the victims of the crash, state news agency Xinhua reported Friday in Beijing, citing the Chinese embassy.

The force 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.

Transport officials said both aircraft were on standard flight patterns on a clear night with good visibility.

And Hegseth said the chopper had “a fairly experienced crew that was doing a required annual night evaluation.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Rescue boats search Potomac River after a plane on approach to Reagan National Airport crashed into it.

Alaska, US:

A US Air Force fighter jet crashed during a training exercise at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska on Tuesday. The pilot flying the single-seat F-35 fighter was safe after bailing out. A video of the crash was widely posted on social media, where the aircraft can be seen vertically descending from the air and flipping before it crashed.

The crash was followed by a large explosion, with fire rising several meters up in the air. The pilot, who ejected the plane on time, was seen descending on the ground with the help of a parachute.

BREAKING: F-35 has crashed in Alaska pic.twitter.com/ZLqlADWWbU

— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) January 29, 2025

The pilot experienced an “in-flight malfunction,” and was able to eject from the aircraft, US Air Force Colonel Paul Townsend, commander of the 354th Fighter Wing, told a news conference, according to a report from the Associated Press.

The crash reportedly happened while landing during a training exercise. The incident on Tuesday afternoon resulted in “significant damage” to the F-35 Lightning II aircraft, according to Eielson Air Force Base.

The pilot was safe and taken to Bassett Army Hospital, according to the statement.

The F-35 is the most expensive US defence program and Lockheed Martin’s biggest revenue generator, contributing about 30 per cent of its bottom line. The fighter aircraft is known for flying over 12 hours, reaching almost anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere in a single flight.

“I can assure you the United States Air Force will conduct a thorough investigation in hopes to minimize the chances of such occurrences from happening again,” Townsend said in the statement.

This is not the first incident when an F-35 crashed mid-air in the US. In May 2024, an F-35 fighter jet on its way from Texas to Edwards Air Force Base near Los Angeles crashed after the pilot stopped to refuel in New Mexico. The pilot was taken to a hospital with serious injuries.

In October 2024, a pilot was accused of ejecting from an F-35 aircraft when he didn’t need to, causing the fighter to fly unmanned for 11 minutes before it crashed in rural South Carolina in 2023.

The Pentagon is reportedly planning to spend $1.7 trillion more on the F-35 program, including buying 2,500 planes in the coming decades.
 

Texas, US:

At least four people were injured after a small plane landed on a South Texas highway on Wednesday before crashing into three cars. After the crash, the twin-engine propeller plane split in two, leaving debris scattered across the busy roadway, the authorities said. 

The aircraft crashed on the State Highway Loop 463, in Victoria City of South Texas at around 3 pm, according to a report by NBC. 

Four people injured in the crash were taken to the hospitals, of them, three had non-life-threatening wounds. The fourth person was taken to another facility for a higher level of care, police said.

Addressing reporters, Deputy Police Chief Eline Moya of the Victoria Police Department said, “We are glad that it wasn’t worse than what it is. This is not something we see every day.”

“But we are glad that people seem to be OK, and they are getting checked out,” she added.

The moments before the crash and the devastation that followed were captured on camera by observers on the roadway. The footage, which is being widely shared on social media, shows the aircraft flying very low before landing on a street.

Plane crash in Victoria, Texas. pic.twitter.com/TzkHGHI4Eb

— DramaAlert (@DramaAlert) December 12, 2024

The video then shows the plane splintered in two near the highway overpass, with debris scattered across the road.

The plane, a twin-engine Piper PA-31, was carrying just the pilot at the time of the crash, according to a report by Fox News Digital. 

The Victoria Police Department and the  Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have begun their investigation into the crash. 

Per a FlightAware report, the aircraft took off from the Victoria Regional Airport around 9:52 am and was airborne for around five hours before the crash.