Trump orders assessment of aviation safety, names acting FAA administrator after deadly DC plane crash

President Donald Trump connected Thursday signed 2 enforcement orders appointing a caller Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lawman head and ordering an contiguous appraisal of aviation safety.

The orders came aft an American Airlines plane carrying 64 radical and an Army Black Hawk chopper carrying 3 soldiers crashed successful midair astatine astir 9 p.m. Wednesday.

The craft plummeted into the frigid Potomac River adjacent Reagan National Airport, leaving 67 radical presumed dead.

In the Oval Office Thursday, Trump signed an bid appointing Chris Rocheleau acting head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

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Rocheleau astir precocious served arsenic National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) CEO and held aggregate enactment roles astatine the FAA during his much than 20-year tenure, including manager of the bureau of exigency operations and investigations.

The NBAA wrote successful a connection it "welcomed" the announcement.

"Chris is an outstanding person who volition beryllium bully for the FAA, bully for aviation and bully for the country, particularly astatine this challenging time," said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen. "He has demonstrated excellence astatine each level successful the government, subject and aviation industry."

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Trump called Rocheleau a "very susceptible guy" portion signing the order.

A 2nd enforcement bid ordered an contiguous appraisal of aviation information and an elevation of "competence" implicit diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).

While signing the order, helium said erstwhile presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama's DEI policies were "just crazy."

The memorandum says the Obama medication introduced a biographical questionnaire astatine the FAA to displacement the hiring absorption distant from nonsubjective aptitude, and the Biden medication aboriginal encouraged the recruitment of radical with "severe intelligence disabilities."

"During my archetypal term, my Administration raised standards to execute the highest standards of information and excellence," Trump wrote successful the memo. "The Biden Administration egregiously rejected merit-based hiring, requiring each enforcement departments and agencies to instrumentality unsafe ‘diversity equity and inclusion’ tactics, and specifically recruiting individuals with ‘severe intellectual’ disabilities successful the FAA."

While Trump ordered an contiguous instrumentality to merit-based recruitment, hiring and promotion connected his 2nd time successful office, helium noted the caller level clang "underscores the request to elevate information and competence arsenic the precedence of the FAA."

Trump said Thursday the collision was a "confluence of atrocious decisions that were made, and you person radical that mislaid their lives, violently mislaid their lives."

Fox News Digital's Louis Casiano contributed to this story.