Trump blames ‘obsolete’ computer system for deadly plane crash

In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, Trump blamed diversity hiring programmes for the crash. But on Thursday, he blamed the computer system used by the country’s air traffic controllers

President Donald Trump speaks during the national prayer breakfast in Washington Picture: Evan Vucci/AP

President Donald Trump on Thursday blamed last week’s deadly collision of a passenger jet and army helicopter on what he called an “obsolete” computer system used by US air traffic controllers, and he vowed to replace it.

Mr Trump said during an event that “a lot of mistakes happened” on January 29 when an American Airlines flight out of Wichita, Kansas, collided with an army helicopter as the plane was about to land at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, killing all 67 people on board the two aircraft.