Trump assures Americans flying is ‘very safe’ after fatal in-air crash between American Airlines flight, Black Hawk helicopter

"Should people be hesitant to fly right now?" a reporter asked Trump in the White House.

"No," he replied, "not at all. I’d not hesitate to fly. This is something that, it’s been many years, something like this has happened. The collision is just something that we don’t expect ever to happen again."

Trump continued on to say that his administration, since taking office, has been hiring "the best people because, I said, it’s not appropriate what they’re doing. I think it's a tremendous mistake. You know, they like to do things and they like to take them too far. And this is sometimes what ends up happening."

"Now, with that, I’m not blaming the controller, I’m saying there are things that you could question like the height of the helicopter, the height of the plane, being at the same level and going in opposite directions."

He added, "Flying is very safe. We have the safest flying anywhere in the world and we’ll keep it that way."

Just before 9 pm on Wednesday, American Airlines Flight 5342 from Wichita was approaching runway 33 at Reagan National Airport when it collided with a Black Hawk helicopter around 300 feet in the air, resulting in an explosion over the Potomac River. Fire officials said Thursday morning that rescue efforts have shifted to recovery efforts and that the people aboard the aircraft are not believed to be alive. The helicopter had launched from nearby Fort Belvoir, VA and was in the air for just nine minutes.

The airliner had 64 people aboard and the helicopter had 3 crew members.