Sawt Falasteen - Trump blames 'diversity' for deadly Washington airliner collision

The Republican confirmed the deaths of all those aboard both aircraft, and also cited pilot error on the helicopter in the nighttime crash.

But he chiefly used a press conference to open fire at what he said were left-wing diversity practices under his predecessors Joe Biden and Barack Obama that he said kept out good employees at the Federal Aviation Administration.

"I put safety first. Obama, Biden and the Democrats put policy first," Trump said. "They actually came out with a directive: 'too white.' And we want the people that are competent."

As Trump spoke in the White House, police divers searched for more bodies in the water.

Wreckage of the Bombardier jet operated by an American Airlines subsidiary protruded from the surface, surrounded by emergency vessels and diving teams. It had been carrying 64 people.

The army Blackhawk helicopter, which had three soldiers aboard, was also in the river.

"We are now at a point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation," Washington Fire Chief John Donnelly said. Twenty eight bodies had already been found.

The collision -- the first major crash in the United States since 2009 when 49 people were killed near Buffalo, New York -- occurred late evening on Wednesday as the airliner came into land at Reagan National Airport after a routine flight from Wichita, Kansas.

Reagan National is a major airport located only a short distance from downtown Washington, the Pentagon and other major sites in the capital. The airspace is extremely busy, with civilian and military aircraft a constant presence.

Dramatic audio from air traffic controllers showed them repeatedly asking the helicopter if it had the passenger jet "in sight," and then just before the crash telling it to "pass behind" the plane.

- Trump politicizes crash -

Trump opened his press conference by speaking of the nation's "anguish" and said that the investigation would take time.

However, he then launched into an extended broadside against so-called diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

Trump -- who began his presidency a week ago with an onslaught against decades-old measures aimed at preventing sexism and racism in the United States -- singled out Biden's openly gay transport secretary Pete Buttigieg.

"He's run it right into the ground with his diversity," Trump said.

The message was hammered home as Trump's vice president, JD Vance, and new defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, took turns at the podium to repeat that diversity measures kept capable Americans out of responsible jobs.

Asked again by reporters whether he was blaming workplace diversity for the crash, Trump answered: "It could have been."

- Skaters among victims -

Hundreds of rescuers were rapidly at the scene, but found themselves battling darkness and floating ice through the night. Some of the debris was found a mile downriver.

Among those on the airliner were several US skaters and coaches, US Figure Skating said. Officials in Moscow also confirmed the presence of Russian couple Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who won the 1994 world pairs title.

The violence of the collision soon made it clear that survivors were unlikely.

"I just saw a fireball and it was gone," one air traffic controller was heard telling a colleague after communication with the helicopter was cut.

- What happened? -

Hegseth said the Black Hawk chopper had "a fairly experienced crew that was doing a required annual night evaluation."

"Do I think this was preventable? Absolutely," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.

Trump, in addition to blaming racial and other kinds of diversity policies, offered extended remarks on the flight paths.

The helicopter was "going at an angle that was unbelievably bad," Trump said.

"The air traffic controller said, 'Do you see... Do you see him?' But there was very little time left when that was stated," the president added, blaming a "confluence of bad decisions."

R.Shaban--SF-PST