All 67 bodies from Washington air disaster now recovered
WASHINGTON: Salvage crews have recovered the bodies of all 67 people killed when a passenger plane and a US Army helicopter collided near Washington and plunged into the Potomac River, officials said Tuesday.
All but one of the bodies have been identified, said a statement from a variety of government agencies involved in the recovery effort after the deadliest US air crash in 20 years.
The statement called the completion of the search for remains a 'significant step' toward bringing closure to the families of the people who died in the accident last week.
'Our hearts are with the victims' families as they navigate this tragic loss,' the statement said. 'We extend our deepest condolences and remain committed to supporting them through this difficult time.'
Crews continue working to recover the wreckage of the passenger plane — a Bombardier CRJ-700 operated by American Eagle airlines — from the frigid waters of the Potomac.
So far crews have retrieved pieces including the right wing, a center section of the fuselage, part of the left wing, the tail cone and rudder, the National Transportation Safety Board said.
Work to recover the chopper will begin when the plane work is done, the city agencies said.
Sixty passengers on the plane and four crew members were killed in Wednesday's accident along with three soldiers aboard the US Army Black Hawk helicopter.
There were no survivors.
The plane was on a flight from Wichita, Kansas, to Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington when the collision occurred.
President Donald Trump was quick to blame diversity hiring policies for the accident although no evidence has emerged that they were responsible.
Trump also said the helicopter, which was on a routine training mission, appeared to be flying too high.
According to US media reports, the control tower at the busy airport may have been understaffed at the time of the accident.
The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to compile a preliminary report within 30 days, although a full investigation could take a year.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Arabiya
3 days ago
- Al Arabiya
Judge temporarily blocks Trump ban on foreign students at Harvard
A US judge on Thursday ordered another block on President Donald Trump's repeated efforts to ban foreign students from attending Harvard University. In a court order, US District Judge Allison D. Burroughs blocked Trump's latest proclamation aiming to bar new Harvard international students from entering the country, saying the university had showed that without a restraining order it risked sustaining 'immediate and irreparable injury before there is an opportunity to hear from all parties.'
Arab News
3 days ago
- Arab News
Afghans who helped America during the war plead for an exemption from Trump travel ban
ISLAMABAD: Afghans who worked for the US during its war against the Taliban urged President Donald Trump Thursday to exempt them from a travel ban that could lead to them being deported to Afghanistan, where they say they will face persecution. Their appeal came hours after Trump announced a US entry ban on citizens from 12 countries, including Afghanistan. It affects thousands of Afghans who fled Taliban rule and had been approved for resettlement through a US program assisting people at risk due to their work with the American government, media organizations, and humanitarian groups. But Trump suspended that program in January, leaving Afghans stranded in several locations, including Pakistan and Qatar. Pakistan, meanwhile, has been deporting foreigners it says are living in the country illegally, mostly Afghan, adding to the refugees' sense of peril. 'This is heartbreaking and sad news,' said one Afghan, who worked closely with US agencies before the Taliban returned to power in 2021. He spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the issue, fearing Taliban reprisals and potential arrest by Pakistani authorities. He said the travel ban on an estimated 20,000 Afghans in Pakistan could encourage the government to begin deporting Afghans awaiting resettlement in the US 'President Trump has shattered hopes,' he told The Associated Press. He said his life would be at risk if he returned to Afghanistan with his family because he previously worked for the US Embassy in Kabul on public awareness campaigns promoting education. 'You know the Taliban are against the education of girls. America has the right to shape its immigration policy, but it should not abandon those who stood with it, risked their life, and who were promised a good future.' Another Afghan, Khalid Khan, said the new restrictions could expose him and thousands of others to arrest in Pakistan. He said police had previously left him and his family alone at the request of the US Embassy. 'I worked for the US military for eight years, and I feel abandoned. Every month, Trump is making a new rule,' said Khan. He fled to Pakistan three years ago. 'I don't know what to say. Returning to Afghanistan will jeopardize my daughter's education. You know the Taliban have banned girls from attending school beyond sixth grade. My daughter will remain uneducated if we return.' He said it no longer mattered whether people spoke out against Trump's policies. 'So long as Trump is there, we are nowhere. I have left all of my matters to Allah.' There was no immediate comment on the travel ban from the Taliban-run government. Pakistan previously said it was working with host countries to resettle Afghans. Nobody was available to comment on Trump's latest executive order.
Asharq Al-Awsat
4 days ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Trump Orders Investigation into Biden's Actions as President, Ratcheting Up Targeting of Predecessor
President Donald Trump on Wednesday directed his administration to investigate Joe Biden's actions as president, alleging aides masked his predecessor's 'cognitive decline' and casting doubts on the legitimacy of his use of the autopen to sign pardons and other documents. The order marked a significant escalation in Trump's targeting of political adversaries and could lay the groundwork for arguments by the Republican that a range of Biden's actions as president were invalid. Biden responded in a statement Wednesday night: 'Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency. I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn't is ridiculous and false.' The Justice Department under Democratic and Republican administrations has recognized the use of an autopen to sign legislation and issue pardons for decades, Trump presented no evidence that Biden was unaware of the actions taken in his name, and the president's absolute pardon power is enshrined in the US Constitution. 'This conspiracy marks one of the most dangerous and concerning scandals in American history,' Trump wrote in a memo. 'The American public was purposefully shielded from discovering who wielded the executive power, all while Biden's signature was deployed across thousands of documents to effect radical policy shifts.' Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House counsel David Warrington to handle the investigation. It's unclear how far Trump will push this effort, which would face certain legal challenges. But it reflects his fixation on Biden, who defeated him in 2020, an election that Trump never conceded and continues to falsely claim was rigged against him. Trump frequently suggests that Biden was wrong to use an autopen, a mechanical device that replicates a person's authentic signature. Although they've been used in the White House for decades, Trump claims that Biden's aides were usurping presidential authority. Biden issued pardons for his two brothers and his sister shortly before leaving office, hoping to shield them from potential prosecution under Trump, who had promised retribution during last year's campaign. Other pardon recipients included members of a congressional committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol. Trump often suggests that his political opponents should be investigated, and he has directed the Justice Department to look into people who have angered him over the years. They include Chris Krebs, a former cybersecurity official who disputed Trump's claims of a stolen election in 2020, and Miles Taylor, a former Department of Homeland Security official who wrote an anonymous op-ed sharply critical of the president in 2018. Meanwhile, House Oversight Chairman James Comer of Kentucky, a Republican, requested transcribed interviews with five Biden aides, alleging they had participated in a 'cover-up' that amounted to 'one of the greatest scandals in our nation's history.' 'These five former senior advisors were eyewitnesses to President Biden's condition and operations within the Biden White House,' Comer said in a statement. 'They must appear before the House Oversight Committee and provide truthful answers about President Biden's cognitive state and who was calling the shots.' Interviews were requested with White House senior advisers Mike Donilon and Anita Dunn, former White House chief of staff Ron Klain, former deputy chief of staff Bruce Reed and Steve Ricchetti, a former counselor to the president. Comer reiterated his call for Biden's physician, Kevin O'Connor, and former senior White House aides Annie Tomasini, Anthony Bernal, Ashley Williams and Neera Tanden to appear before the committee. He warned subpoenas would be issued this week if they refuse to schedule voluntary interviews. 'I think that people will start coming in the next two weeks,' Comer told reporters. He added that the committee would release a report with its findings, 'and we'll release the transcribed interviews, so it'll be very transparent.' Democrats have dismissed the effort as a distraction. 'Chairman Comer had his big shot in the last Congress to impeach Joe Biden and it was, of course, a spectacular flop,' said Rep. Jamie Raskin, the Maryland Democrat who served as the ranking member on the oversight committee in the previous Congress. 'And now he's just living off of a spent dream. It's over. And he should give up the whole thing.' Republicans on the committee are eager to pursue the investigation. 'The American people didn't elect a bureaucracy to run the country,' said Rep. Brandon Gill, a freshman Republican from Texas. 'I think that the American people deserve to know the truth and they want to know the truth of what happened.' The Republican inquiry so far has focused on the final executive actions of Biden's administration, which included the issuing of new federal rules and presidential pardons that they claim may be invalid. Comer cited the book 'Original Sin' by CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios' Alex Thompson, which details concerns and debates inside the White House and Democratic Party over Biden's mental state and age. In the book, Tapper and Thompson wrote, 'Five people were running the country, and Joe Biden was at best a senior member of the board.' Biden and members of his family have vigorously denied the book's claims. 'This book is political fairy smut for the permanent, professional chattering class,' said Naomi Biden, the former president's granddaughter. Biden withdrew from the presidential race last summer after a debate against Trump in which he appeared to lose his train of thought multiple times, muttered inaudible answers and misnamed different government programs. The disastrous debate performance pushed questions about his age and mental acuity to the forefront, ultimately leading Biden to withdraw from the presidential race. He was replaced on the ticket by Kamala Harris, who lost the election to Trump.
