Staffing was "not normal" in the air traffic control tower at the time of the deadly mid-air collision near Washington DC between a passenger jet and army helicopter, a preliminary investigation has found.
An internal Federal Aviation Administration report, first obtained by The New York Times, found that a single air traffic controller was handling landings, departures and communications with helicopters in the vicinity of the Ronald Reagan National Airport, when such a workload would usually be covered by two people.
An American Airlines plane collided with the US Army Black Hawk helicopter on a training exercise as it came into land at the airport just before 9pm on Wednesday.
Sixty passengers, four crew, and three US Army personnel are believed to be dead after the collision 400ft over the Potomac River.
Passengers aboard Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas, included members of the US figure skating team who were returning from the US Figure Skating Championships.
The staffing at the air traffic control tower is certain to form part of the federal investigation into the cause of the crash.
Air traffic facilities, including the one at the Washington airport, have suffered from chronic staff shortages for some time.
A report to Congress last year found that the airport had just 19 certified controllers in 2023, while the FAA’s target was 30.
Usually two controllers would handle the roles, as staff use two different radio frequencies to talk to planes and helicopter pilots.
While the controller is talking to them, the pilots of each aircraft may not be able hear each other.
The development came as Donald Trump questioned the actions of the army helicopter pilot and air traffic controller ahead of the collision in an explosive press conference, where he also suggested diversity initiatives could be to blame for the tragedy.
Speaking from the White House - just over three miles from the scene of the disaster - Mr Trump at points acknowledged that it was too soon to draw conclusions as he encouraged the nation to pray for the victims, but he moved nonetheless to assign blame.
Mr Trump said "we are one family" as he expressed condolences for the crash. He then proceeded to attack political opponents and unleash grievances about diversity initiatives.
"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," Mr Trump said.
He added that the programme allowed for the hiring of people with hearing and vision issues as well as paralysis, epilepsy and "dwarfism".
Mr Trump said air traffic controllers needed to be geniuses. "They have to be talented, naturally talented geniuses," he said. "You can't have regular people doing their job."
Mr Trump said he had no evidence to support his claims that diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and hiring preferences played a role in the crash, allowing that "it just could have been". He defended doing so "because I have common sense".
The plane crash marked the first major disaster of Mr Trump's new term, and his response evoked his frequent - and controversial - briefings on the Covid-19 pandemic.
His handling of the pandemic helped sour voters on him as he failed to win re-election in 2020.
Mr Trump said "we do not know what led to this crash but we have some very strong opinions".
Then he proceeded to hold forth at length about what happened, at one point wondering if the helicopter pilot was wearing night vision goggles.
Mr Trump declared that "you had a pilot problem" and the helicopter was "going at an angle that was unbelievably bad".
And he questioned why the Army pilot did not change course, saying that "you can stop a helicopter very quickly".
He also mused about the air traffic controller, saying of the two aircraft, "for whatever reason they were at the same elevation", adding "they should have been at a different height".
The US army pilots who were onboard the Black Hawk helicopter had experience flying at night in Washington’s congested airspace, a senior army official said.
Jonathan Koziol, chief of staff for army aviation, told the Associated Press that the pilot-in-command had logged about 1,000 flight hours, and a pilot who was being evaluated had about 500 hours flight experience.
“Both pilots had flown this specific route before, at night. This wasn’t something new to either one of them,” Koziol said.
“Even the crew chief in the back has been in the unit for a very long time, very familiar with the area, very familiar with the routing structure.”
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the accident.
Jennifer Homendy, the chairwoman of the NTSB, vowed to "leave no stone unturned" in their probe during the press conference on Thursday
She called their probe an "all hands on deck" event and refused to give a preliminary cause of the crash, saying they dealt in facts.
She also a briefing that they have not found a flight data recorder or “black box” yet.
Officials explained that the NSTB plans to have a preliminary report within 30 days.
Hundreds of rescuers have been searching the frigid waters of the Potomac River for the bodies of those killed in the plane crash. 28 bodies have already been retrieved.
Images showed boats around a partly submerged wing and what appeared to be the mangled wreckage of the plane's fuselage.
Helicopters flew overhead with powerful search lights scanning the murky waters at night following the crash, while emergency vehicles lit up the banks of the Potomac in a long line of blinking red lights.
The water temperature was just above freezing.
