Sen. Mark Kelly Dismisses Trump’s Speculation on D.C. Midair Collision

WASHINGTON—Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) strongly pushed back against President Donald Trump’s claim that the midair collision between an American Airlines regional jet and a Black Hawk helicopter in Washington, D.C., was the result of diversity programs. Speaking to CNN’s Jim Sciutto on Thursday, Kelly, a former NASA astronaut and Naval aviator, called Trump’s speculation “not anchored in any reality.”

Kelly, who flew Space Shuttle missions and served as a test and fighter pilot before entering politics, emphasized the complexity of aviation accidents and warned against drawing premature conclusions. “Senator, thanks so much for taking the time,” Sciutto said.

“I would, to begin, like to draw on your extensive experience as a pilot—from the Space Shuttle, test pilot, fighter jet. When you look at the data, as it’s known, with the proviso that it is early, and I’m not asking you to come to any final conclusions, what stands out to you about what happened here? And what do you think investigators should be focused on?”

Kelly did not hesitate to challenge Trump’s remarks. “Let me start by saying, what the president said is some wild speculation that’s not anchored in any reality,” he stated. He then outlined how aviation disasters are typically the result of a “series of things, a chain of events” rather than a single cause.

“Aviation accidents are often very complicated, and it’s usually not one thing,” Kelly explained. “It’s usually a series of things where problems start to cascade from one issue to another. When the NTSB [National Transportation Safety Board] does their job—and they are really, really good at this—we’ll probably find out that it was a number of factors.”

Kelly listed several potential causes that investigators will likely examine, including:

Errors in flight control operations
Mechanical or equipment failures
Pilots or crew not following standard flight procedures
Other unforeseen external factors
“In an accident like this, there’s a lot that could go wrong,” Kelly added. “It could be issues with the flight control team, the helicopter crew, or the airplane crew. There could be equipment failure. There could be somebody not following standard procedures or flight rules.”

He drew on his experience with the Columbia Space Shuttle accident investigation to emphasize that aviation crashes are rarely attributable to a single cause—let alone a broad policy like diversity initiatives.

“I would say, as somebody who has been involved in investigations—the Columbia Space Shuttle accident was a really complex one—aviation accidents all tend to be rather complicated,” he said. “And it certainly isn’t, you know, this broad policy that actually might not even be true about hiring.”