The focus of the Western press after the plane crash in Washington, in which 67 people are believed to have died, falls on the accusations of US President Donald Trump and on the general grief in which the nation has been plunged.
Trump blamed aviation and the Democratic Party without citing evidence, he points out in one of his leading articles in the "New York Times". "The president's statements suggesting that federal policy has somehow caused the collision of a passenger plane and a military helicopter illustrate his instinct to immediately cast events through his political or ideological prism," David Sanger points out in his article.
According to Trump, the "diversity, equity, and inclusion" requirements for hiring employees at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are to blame, as are his two Democratic predecessors to the presidency (Barack Obama and Joe Biden). He says the standards for air traffic controllers were too low.
He blamed the crew of the military helicopter that appeared to have crashed into a passenger plane approaching Ronald Reagan Airport over the Potomac River, Sanger points out. His immediate focus on the principle of equality for all citizens shows Trump's reflex to immediately outline what happened as he sees it, regardless of whether the facts fit or not, is the opinion of the author of the material.
This is something he has done before: after the terrorist attack in New Orleans on New Year's Day, he blamed illegal immigration, even though the attacker was an American born in Texas, recalls the "New York Times".
Asked how he could claim that hiring employees according to diversity principles was a cause of the disaster, even though the basic facts of the collision are still being sought by investigators, he said: “Because I have common sense“. "Some jobs require the greatest minds," he said, quoted by the American newspaper.
According to the latest publications of the "New York Times" the air traffic controller on duty was alone, although the shift at the time of the crash was supposed to be two people. On the other hand, after the controller set a course for the three in the "Black Hawk" military helicopter, the machine flew at a higher altitude than indicated, the publication notes.
The flight lines of the plane and the helicopter were normal before the collision, said the Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, quoted by the "New York Times". He pointed out that helicopters and planes usually fly close to each other in the airspace of the District of Columbia.
"This is not unusual - with a military aircraft flying over the river and a plane landing in the District of Columbia," Duffy said, adding that the night was clear. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration will analyze the debris, the minister specified. "The New York Times" also quoted American Airlines CEO Robert Isom, according to whom the pilot of the passenger plane with 64 people on board was extremely experienced.
Representatives of the US Army Joint Task Force for the Capital Region said that the helicopter was performing a training flight. The machine was based at the "Davidson" military airfield in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, south of Washington. The helicopter crew was also "quite experienced", emphasizes Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, quoted by the "New York Times".
Another American newspaper - "Washington Post" - describes the personal tragedy of the families of the victims. Twenty-eight bodies were pulled from the Potomac River within the past day, and it is believed that there are no survivors among the passengers of Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas, to Washington, as well as among the people in the army helicopter.
Among those declared dead in the crash is 16-year-old American figure skater Spencer Lane, who was traveling with his mother, Christine Conrad Lane. Theo Armus of the "Washington Post" spoke on the phone with Spencer's grandparents.
Up to 15 figure skating coaches and competitors returning from a training camp for young talent organized by the U.S. Figure Skating Federation were believed to be on board the plane. Among them were Russian citizens such as 1994 world pairs champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who are a married couple.
Grieved people left gifts and flowers at ice rinks yesterday, notes the "Washington Post". This was the case at the "Ashburn" rink in Loudoun, Virginia. "It is with heavy hearts that we learned that figure skating was directly affected by the disaster. We are one big, close-knit family in this sport," the rink's management said in a statement, quoted by the publication.
Spencer, who is Korean by birth, was adopted by the Conrad family when he was 10 months old. "He was a gift. The stars came together for us," his grandmother, Karen Conrad, told the "Washington Post". "He was obsessed with figure skating. "He was thinking only and only about the Olympics," she added.
The British newspaper "The Guardian" quoted the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach as saying that everyone in the Olympic family "is deeply saddened by the tragic air accident in Washington." "On behalf of the IOC and personally, I express my condolences to all those who died, among whom, as we understand, may be Olympians, young athletes and their coaches and relatives", Bach added.
"The Guardian" refers to the words of former figure skater from Russia Natalia Gudina, who said that her husband Alexander Kirsanov and two young athletes he trains were on board the plane. She has decided to stay at home in Delaware, and only her husband will go with the competitors.
"I lost everything - my husband, children, friends. I want my husband back. I want to see his body," Gudina told ABC television, quoted by "The Guardian".
The Italian newspaper "Repubblica" draws attention to the coincidence that saved the life of another figure skater, American John Maravilla. "Sometimes fate is decided by small details, decisions made at the last minute, coincidences that seem almost preordained", writes the author of the article Fulvio Cerruti.
Today, Maravilla owes his life to an employee's choice imposed by regulation: his dog was deemed "too big" to ride with him in the passenger cabin of the plane from Wichita, the author specifies in "Repubblica". "Denounced ticket, saved life" is the headline of the article.
The flight check-in clerk categorically refused the figure skater the right to take the dog with him on the seat. Accordingly, he returned the ticket and decided to travel back by car. "A few hours later, the shocking news of the collision came. Then John realizes that a four-legged miracle has saved his life," concludes "Republika".
The German newspaper "Welt" draws attention to the fact that although such mid-air collisions are considered extremely unlikely, they happen again and again, with catastrophic consequences. "Since 1945, around 40 crashes involving civilian aircraft have been recorded", writes author Sven-Felix Kellerhoff.
"Given the speeds that aircraft must reach in order to fly at all, it is extremely unlikely that two aircraft will collide with each other. With some exceptions, this also applies to mid-air collisions between aircraft and helicopters. "However, the current incident in Washington shows that, despite the extremely low probability, this horror happens again and again," Kellerhoff notes.
One possible version is that the helicopter pilot made a fatal mistake. The control tower told him to watch the passenger plane and fly past it. Social media does not rule out the possibility that the pilot accidentally looked at another, larger plane - American Airlines Flight 3130, which was also approaching, points out the Welt.