The Honourable Anita Anand, Minister of Transport and Internal Trade, today offered the following statement concerning the incident involving a United States military Black Hawk helicopter and American Airlines flight 5342, a Bombardier CRJ-700, in Washington, D.C.:
"It is with great sadness that I learned of the mid-air incident. I would like to offer my heartfelt sympathies to the families and friends affected by this terrible incident.
"The United States' National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is the lead on the investigation. Given that Canada is the State of Design of the airplane involved, the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) has deployed two investigators to support the NTSB in their investigation. Transport Canada has appointed an advisor from its Minister's Observer/Technical Advisor Program to support the TSB investigators.
"Canada is ready to support our American counterparts in the investigation."
