The Black Hawk helicopter that collided with a passenger jet was to blame for the crash near Washington DC, Donald Trump has said.

Washington’s Ronald Reagan airport banned helicopters from flying parts of two routes within its radius after the crash and the US president said the military aircraft was “flying too high” at the time of the collision.

The Black Hawk helicopter was conducting a training flight for a female pilot who has not yet been identified.

She was being overseen by Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Eaves, who had more than 1,000 hours of flying experience and would have been expected to take over the controls in an emergency.

The crew chief of the Black Hawk was identified as Ryan O’Hara, a father of one, who would have sat in the back of the aircraft as it flew through the congested airspace above Washington DC.

All three soldiers were killed in the crash above Ronald Reagan National Airport, as well as the 64 passengers and crew on American Airlines flight 5342.