Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., told Newsmax on Thursday that it was “ridiculous” to blame the new Trump administration for Wednesday night’s midair collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and a military Black Hawk helicopter at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C.
“The bottom line is that tragedies occur,” Harris said on “National Report.” “They occur in any administration. This is linked in no way, shape or form to the Trump administration.
“The Trump administration, through the NTSB [National Transportation Safety Bureau], will get to the bottom of this, and hopefully we will again change procedures so that we can avoid anything like this happening again in the future.”
Despite the tragedy, Harris said Americans with flights booked should “absolutely” feel comfortable in flying throughout the country today.
“There’s no question,” Harris said. “Air traffic safety in this country, it’s the safest way to travel. Much safer than driving in your car, statistically. Losing your life in a car accident is rare. Losing your life in an aircraft accident is much, much, much rarer.”
Officials said Thursday that no survivors had been found and that the mission had shifted from a rescue to a recovery operation, as it was unlikely that any of the 64 people aboard the American Airlines jet or the three soldiers onboard the Black Hawk helicopter had survived the crash.
Harris said that NTSB investigators were conducting an investigation, but he found it “amazing” that military and commercial aircraft were allowed to occupy the same airspace.
“It’s amazing to me that they allow the military helicopters to fly into where the landing pads are at National Airport,” he said. “Reagan Airport, as you know, is a very close in airport to the city, fairly restricted areas around it. We’ve got to get to the bottom of how they could allow two aircraft in the same place at the same time.”
The Maryland congressman added that the experience level of the military pilot was something he would be interested to know, given how much activity occurs at Ronald Reagan National Airport.
“We have to know what the experience level was, especially of that military pilot, because it appears that that’s the pilot that should have made a different decision because they were flying under visual flight rules,” Harris said. “We’re going to learn from the investigation, but I certainly believe that if you’re going to have military operations in the same area as Reagan National Airport, you better have experienced pilots there, because that is a very, very busy airport.”
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