Donald Trump’s rant about American Airlines plane crash as dead pilots identified by devastated family

President Donald Trump has confirmed there are no survivors in America’s deadliest plane crash since 2001 before levelling all blame for the tragedy at the feet of the Democrats.

Sixty-seven people were killed when an American Airlines plane collided midair with a US military Black Hawk army helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and plunged into the Potomac River on Wednesday night (local time).

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: President Donald Trump addresses devastating mid-air collision.

The plane was flying from Wichita, Kansas and was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members — none of whom survived.

The three people onboard the Black Hawk helicopter are also believed to have perished in the crash.

In a press conference from the White House, Trump targeted former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama and former transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg in his remarks on the deadly plane crash, saying Biden’s “policy was horrible”.

“We must have only the highest standards for those who work in our aviation system. I changed the Obama standards from very mediocre at best to extraordinary,” Trump said, without providing evidence or citing specific policy.

“And then when I left office and Biden took over, he changed them back to lower than ever before. I put safety first, Obama, Biden and the Democrats put policy first, and they put politics at a level that nobody’s ever seen because this was the lowest level,” he continued, adding, “their policy was horrible, and their politics was even worse”.

Trump went on to blame an “FAA diversity push” that “includes a focus on hiring people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities that is amazing”.

The president then turned to Buttigieg, saying: “Do you know how badly everything’s run since he’s run the Department of Transportation?

“He’s a disaster. He was a disaster as a mayor. He ran his city into the ground, and he’s a disaster. Now he’s just got a good line of bulls***,” Trump said.

He called the deadly collision a “a tragedy of terrible proportions”.

“The work has now shifted to a recovery mission. Sadly there are no survivors,” he said.

He added that a “massive search-and-rescue mission was underway throughout the night, leveraging every asset at our disposal, and I have to say, the local, state, federal military, including the United States Coast Guard in particular, they’ve done a phenomenal job.”

“This was a dark and excruciating night in our nation’s capital and in our nation’s history and a tragedy of terrible proportions as one nation, we grieve for every precious soul that has been taken from us so suddenly,” Trump said.

American Airlines pilots killed in deadly crash identified

Trump’s comments came as the pilots in the American Airlines plane were identified.

First Officer Samuel Lilley, 29, was in the cockpit of flight 5342 when it collided with the chopper.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Deadly midair plane crash.

Lilley was newly engaged, according to his father who spoke to the Daily Mail, and was only months away from being promoted to captain.

“Samuel was in the prime of his life. He was engaged to a beautiful, wonderful girl and we were all excited about her joining the family,” Timothy Lilley said.

“I saw the crash on the news. I didn’t think there was any way it was my son.

“But then I watched long enough to figure out it was my son’s airline and then I kind of know his schedule.”

Timothy said he had been a Black Hawk helicopter pilot for 20 years and had flown the same route the helicopter was on when it crashed.

“My goodness, I’d done that so many times. My brothers in the Army had something to do with the death of my son.”

According to American Airlines Lilley had two years of experience while the captain, who the Daily Mail has identified as Jonathan Campos, 34, had six years of experience.

Figure skating community in mourning

American figure skaters, coaches and family members who had been at a camp in Wichita, were among those aboard the passenger jet, according to US Figure Skating.

Doug Zeghibe, chief executive of The Skating Club of Boston, said 14 skaters were killed in the crash.

Of those, six were from the Skating Club of Boston — two coaches, two teenage athletes and the athletes’ mothers.

Those six were identified as athlete Jinna Han; Jinna’s mother, Jin Han; athlete Spencer Lane; Spencer’s mother, Christine Lane.

Russian state media confirmed that Russian figure skaters and coaches were also on board, including world champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov.

Their son, Maxim Naumov, is also feared to have been on board.

The 23-year-old had been competing at the US figure skating championships in Wichita.

Shishkova, 52, and Naumov, 55, were reported to have been returning from the competition and travelling with a group of young skaters.

Russia’s Mash news outlet published a list of 13 skaters, many of them the children of Russian emigres to the US, who it said were believed to have been on the plane.

The aircraft was preparing for a routine landing at the time of the collision, while the helicopter was conducting a training flight.

Investigators are trying to piece together the aircraft’s final moments before the collision, including its contact with air traffic controllers.

It is believed investigators are still searching for the black boxes for both aircraft.

- With NBC