More flights, staffing shortages and mounting safety questions may have played a role in deadly air collision

• Washington DC plane crash – latest updates

As information trickles in regarding what caused a plane and a helicopter to collide in Washington DC, all eyes are on air traffic rules and regulations. An investigation of the crash is under way, but few are waiting for its results to jump to their lines of attack.

Aviation security and the air traffic control industry have been subject to partisan wrangling for years, and the American Airlines jet crash, which left no survivors, comes amid much upheaval in the aviation world. On Thursday, Donald Trump blamed diversity in the ranks of air traffic controllers and jumped quickly to criticizing his predecessors for lapses in aviation security.