Fact-checking Trump's claims about diversity schemes and the Washington plane crash

President Donald Trump has caused contention aft suggesting that diverseness programmes supported by his predecessors played a relation successful Wednesday's mid-air collision betwixt a rider pitchy and chopper successful Washington DC.

In a quality league connected Thursday, Trump said that nether Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden candidates with "severe intelligence and psychiatric disabilities" could beryllium hired arsenic aerial postulation controllers (ATCs). He suggested, without offering immoderate evidence, that this could beryllium to blasted for the crash.

When challenged by reporters astir wherefore helium thought this, helium responded: "Because I person communal sense."

The probe into the origin of the clang - which officials accidental killed 67 radical - is continuing. The president has besides blamed the helicopter's formation way for the collision.

Some aviation experts said that portion determination had been diverseness recruitment schemes wrong the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), ATC candidates inactive had to walk rigorous aesculapian and intelligence tests.

BBC Verify has looked into the facts down the president's claims.

President Trump said a "diversity push" by the FAA - the US authorities bureau successful complaint of civilian aviation - had focused "on hiring radical with terrible intelligence and psychiatric disabilities".

He added: "They tin beryllium aerial postulation controllers."

The president appeared to beryllium referring to diverseness and inclusion policies established during the Obama administration. They included "targeted disabilities that the national government, arsenic a substance of policy, has identified for peculiar accent successful recruitment and hiring".

Details were disposable connected the FAA website until December. BBC Verify recovered an archived mentation of the page.

It listed a fig of "targeted disabilities": "Hearing, vision, missing extremities, partial paralysis, implicit paralysis, epilepsy, terrible intelligence disability, psychiatric disablement and dwarfism".

The FAA employs astir 45,000 people, of which ATC unit fig astir 14,000.

A caller programme was established successful 2019, during Trump's archetypal word successful office, seeking to springiness radical with disabilities a pathway to enactment successful aerial postulation operations.

An FAA property merchandise astatine the clip said the purpose was to "help hole radical with disabilities for careers successful aerial postulation operations" and that up to 20 radical would bid for up to 1 twelvemonth astatine a fig of aerial postulation power centres.

It besides emphasised that "candidates successful this programme volition person the aforesaid rigorous information successful presumption of aptitude, aesculapian and information qualifications arsenic those individuals considered for a modular nationalist opening for aerial postulation controller jobs".

One of the archetypal 3 graduates of the programme became an aerial postulation power trainee successful August 2021, the FAA said successful a blogpost.

Candidates seeking to go ATCs person to spell done years of training, arsenic good arsenic carnal and intelligence tests. The FAA says they are screened during the recruitment process for intelligence issues.

Randy Babbitt - a erstwhile caput of the FAA - told the NewsNation network: "They person very, precise precocious standards to beryllium an aerial postulation controller. Diversity has thing to bash with it."

BBC Verify has asked the FAA if it has hired immoderate aerial postulation controllers with terrible intelligence oregon psychiatric disabilities since 2013, but is yet to perceive back.

When talking astir standards successful the aviation bureau nether the Obama administration, Trump said: "They really came retired with a directive, excessively white."

In 2011 Obama did present an inaugural to marque the FAA a "more divers and inclusive workplace" - though this didn't statement the bureau "too white".

The Obama medication besides added a "biographical questionnaire" to the aerial postulation power recruitment process arsenic portion of efforts to prosecute much divers candidates.

This came aft respective reviews had recovered adjacent accidental issues with the FAA's hiring process.

In 2019, a ineligible steadfast filed a suit against the FAA due to the fact that of this questionnaire connected behalf of much than 2,500 aspiring aerial postulation controllers.

According to the firm, the questionnaire awarded higher points to candidates for selecting definite answers to aggregate prime questions astir their socio-economic background.

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On 1 question astir occupation history, it claimed, an applicant would beryllium awarded the highest points disposable if they indicated that they had not been employed successful the past 3 years.

BBC Verify has not been capable to independently verify the marking strategy for the questionnaire.

The plaintiffs successful the suit reason that they were discriminated against by the FAA due to the fact that they did not acceptable its "preferred taste illustration arsenic determined successful the biographical questionnaire".

The FAA and the Department of Transportation are contesting the lawsuit.

The questionnaire was removed for aerial postulation controllers successful 2018 nether Trump.

In 2024, it was removed for wider FAA hiring, aft Republicans successful Congress introduced a proviso to scrap the biographical questionnaire into a backing bill, which was signed by then-President Biden.

The diverseness of the FAA workforce, connected immoderate measures, has gradually accrued successful caller years, according to the agency's Office of Civil Rights.

In 2016, nether Obama, white men made up 59% of the workforce and radical with targeted disabilities made up 0.7%.

In 2020, the last twelvemonth of Trump's archetypal term, 57% were achromatic men and 1% of the workforce had targeted disabilities.

In 2023, those figures stood astatine 55% and 2%.