The plane crash in the center of the US capital Washington, in which a passenger plane collided with a military helicopter over the Potomac River, "could have been prevented," said US President Donald Trump, quoted by Reuters. The tragedy took place near Ronald Reagan National Airport, where the plane had been heading for a landing.
"The helicopter flew directly at the plane for an extended period of time. This happened on a clear night, the lights of the plane were visible. Why didn't the helicopter climb, descend or turn?," Trump wrote on his social network "Truth Social."
"Why didn't the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if it could see the plane. This is a bad situation that could have been prevented," he added.
Air traffic control tower recordings captured the last attempts to communicate with the helicopter, with the call sign PAT25, before its collision with the plane, described as a CRJ.
"PAT25, do you see the CRJ? PAT25, get behind the CRJ," the controller in the tower is heard saying at 8:47 p.m. local time (03:47 Bulgarian time).
Seconds later, the pilots of another plane are recorded saying: "Tower, did you see that?", presumably referring to the collision.
The Pentagon said it has launched an investigation into the incident.