Washington (AFP) – US pilot Sully Sullenberger, who famously landed a damaged plane on the Hudson River in New York in 2009, said he was “disgusted” but “not surprised” by President Donald Trump’s point-scoring rhetoric surrounding this week’s crash in Washington. Trump has launched a political offensive blaming diversity hires for the midair collision between an airliner and a military helicopter that plunged into the Potomac River, killing 67 people. Republican Trump blamed his Democrat predecessors Barack Obama and Joe Biden for diversity policies that he said were responsible for the crash, though he provided no evidence.
Asked by left-leaning MSNBC about his reaction to Trump’s comments, Sullenberger responded on Thursday: “Not surprised, disgusted.” Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger became a national hero after calmly piloting his US Airways airliner onto the water following a bird strike, in an episode remembered as the “Miracle on the Hudson.” A 2016 film “Sully,” starring Tom Hanks and directed by Clint Eastwood, additionally wowed audiences with its account of his emergency landing.
Sullenberger urged a measured approach in investigating the crash, with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) compiling a report. The NTSB “is the gold standard of the globe for accident investigation,” Sullenberger said, reminding that it took 16 months for the final report when his own flight crashed. “We can have great confidence that the results will be found, they will be made public,” he said.
On Friday, Trump posted new blame on his Truth Social platform, singling out the helicopter’s supposed trajectory. “The Blackhawk helicopter was flying too high, by a lot,” Trump posted. “It was far above the 200 foot limit. That’s not really too complicated to understand, is it???”
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