‘We’re the gold standard’: GOP lawmaker calls for congressional hearing over DC plane crash

EXCLUSIVE: The top Republican on the House Transportation Committee’s subcommittee on aviation is calling for a congressional hearing into the deadly collision between an American Airlines plane and a military helicopter in Washington, D.C.

“We say we are the gold standard, we just need to continue to maintain that level,” Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, who chairs the subcommittee, told Fox News Digital in an interview.

“I just want to sit down with all of them and, when the [National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)] does its report – make sure that it’s very accurate, it’s factual, and that they come up with some recommendations – and then we’ll have to see if we need to change direction or change course based upon those recommendations. But we don’t know yet.”

Nehls praised Transportation Committee Chairman Sam Graves, noting his background as a pilot, and said he would be asking the Missouri Republican to convene meetings with the affected parties and those investigating the incident. Nehls suggested potential closed-door meetings to enable more candid discussions but said a public hearing would also be in order.

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“We have to find out the reason for the crash and then come up with, you know, recommendations to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said. “We don’t need to be sitting on this. I don’t want to hear, ‘It’s going to take 18 months.’ I don’t want to hear that.”

And it appears federal investigators are on that same page.

NTSB officials said they hope to have a preliminary report out in about 30 days.

“I think that would be fair,” Nehls said. “But that shouldn’t stop Congress looking into this and doing what we can to help. I think President Trump… expects it, and he has a right to expect it from us, to make sure that we keep our aviation industry the standard for the world.”

And while he is hoping for quick results, Nehls emphatically cautioned against any early speculation about who or what is to blame for the tragedy.

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“Everybody wants to speculate as to how did this happen, why this happened. Whose fault is that? Is it the helicopter? Was it the airplane?” Nehls said. 

“I think that is irresponsible. I think you just need to give it time for the NTSB to investigate, you know, conduct a very thorough investigation.”

Finger-pointing and speculation have already run rampant, however. Some have blamed Congress for authorizing too many new airline contracts at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which is closer to the U.S. Capitol than the much larger Washington-Dulles International Airport.

Others, primarily on the right, have argued that diversity initiatives by Democratic administrations helped lead to the tragedy.

“I think it’s too early for all of that,” Nehls said when asked about both.

No evidence has come out to support any conclusion or cause of the crash so far.

Nehls spoke with Fox News Digital the day after a Black Hawk helicopter carrying three service members crashed into a passenger plane heading from Wichita, Kansas, which was moments away from landing at Reagan National Airport.

Both aircraft were seen plummeting into the Potomac River between Washington and neighboring Arlington, Virginia, where the airport is located.

U.S. officials have said there are no survivors, and recovery efforts are still underway.

Fox News Digital reached out to the House Transportation Committee for comment.

American Airlines has said 60 passengers and four crew members were aboard the plane, and the airline encouraged any loved ones looking for information to call the numbers on its site.