D.C. plane crash live updates: Families mourn 67 victims after American Eagle jet and Army helicopter collide

Posted by author January 30, 2025 Travel

The American Association of People with Disabilities were among those who responded to Trump’s claims that workers with medical conditions may have been responsible for last night’s air disaster.

“FAA employees with disabilities did not cause last night’s tragic plane crash,” the group said.

“The investigation into the crash is still ongoing. It is extremely inappropriate for the President to use this tragedy to push an anti-diversity hiring agenda. Doing so makes all Americans less safe,” it said in a statement on X.

Earlier today, Trump appeared to blame past administrations in discussing the midair collision that killed 67 people, and he attacked DEI policies and mentioned the FAA and the air traffic controller workforce.

Trump said there had been “various articles that appeared prior to my entering office.”

He said one read: “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.”

Timothy Shriver, chair of the Special Olympics, posted that quote from Trump on Instagram in disputing h is claim.

“Regarding President Trump’s comments that the FAA includes a focus on hiring people with severe intellectual disabilities and that the FAA wants individuals with severe disabilities to be air traffic controllers, to our knowledge, no persons with profound intellectual disabilities are employed as air traffic controllers in the U.S. or elsewhere,” Shriver wrote.