The Latest: Recovery and investigation underway in deadly aircraft collision over DC

Independent

31-01-2025

Divers are expected to return to the Potomac River as part of the recovery and investigation after the United States' deadliest aviation disaster in almost a quarter century.
The collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and an Army helicopter at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport near Washington, D.C, late Wednesday killed 67 people, including more than a dozen figure skaters. More than 40 bodies have been recovered.
Air crash investigations can take months, and federal investigators told reporters Thursday they would not speculate on the cause.
Personal items found in the Potomac turned over to FBI
A riverkeeper who routinely patrols the Potomac for the environmental group Waterkeeper Alliance got permission Thursday to take his motorboat to the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge, about two miles (3.2 kilometers) down from the crash site.
Dean Naujoks said he found that floating debris from the passenger plane had been pushed by the wind and current into a pair of shallow coves along the Maryland shore.
Naujoks recovered a piece of the interior wall from the passenger cabin that had surrounded a window, pages from a flight manual, a woman's sweater and what appeared to be the cushion from a pilot's seat. He turned over the items to the FBI.
'Everything is covered in jet fuel,' Naujoks said. 'I'm thinking of the people these things belonged to and it's a punch to the gut. It's just a sad day on the river.'
Official tells the AP that more than 40 bodies recovered
More than 40 bodies have been pulled from the Potomac River as a massive recovery effort continues following the deadliest aviation disaster in a generation, a law enforcement official told Associated Press.
The recovery efforts were continuing on Friday.
The official was not authorized to discuss details of the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.
By Mike Balsamo
Trump says Army Black Hawk was flying too high at time of midair crash
'It was far above the 200 foot limit. That's not really too complicated to understand, is it???' Trump added in a Friday morning post on his Truth Social platform.
The comments from the president come the day after he questioned the actions of a U.S. Army helicopter pilot involved in the midair collision with a commercial airliner, while also blaming diversity initiatives for undermining air safety.
The maximum altitude where the Black Hawk was at the time of the crash — along a published corridor called Route 4 — was 200 feet (61 meters) above ground, according to Jonathan Koziol, chief of staff for Army aviation.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday that elevation seemed to be a factor in the crash.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth stresses importance of U.S. military's 'continuity' training
The three-person Army crew on the UH-60 Blackhawk was conducting a continuity of government planning training mission at the time of the midair crash.
Military aircraft frequently conduct such training flights in and around the nation's capital for familiarization with routes they would fly in case of a major catastrophe or an attack on the U.S. that would require relocation of key officials from the capital region.
'You need to train as you fight, you need to rehearse in ways that would reflect a real world scenario,' Hegseth said during a Friday morning appearance on Fox and Friends.
Hegseth stressed that it remained the Pentagon's duty to also mitigate risks, while conducting such training. But he underscored U.S. forces need 'to ensure, if unfortunately, there were a real world event where things needed to happen we could respond to it day or night.'
Hegseth says helicopter black box still not recovered
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says investigators have not yet recovered a key recording device from the Army helicopter involved in Wednesday's fatal collision at Ronald Reagan National Airport.
Speaking on Fox News Channel on Friday, Hegseth noted authorities were still looking for the helicopter's black box. Other factors in the crash, including the helicopter's altitude and whether the crew was using its night vision goggles, are still under investigation, Hegseth said.
Cockpit voice and flight data recorders have been recovered from the plane
'NTSB investigators recovered the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the Bombardier CRJ700 airplane involved in yesterday's midair collision at DCA,' National Transportation Safety Board spokesperson Peter Knudson said. 'The recorders are at the NTSB labs for evaluation.'
2 Chinese nationals were among the victims
The Chinese embassy in the U.S. said two Chinese nationals were among the victims of the crash and would provide consular protection and assistance. It has asked the U.S. side to verify the information, officially inform the Chinese side and provide assistance to the families of the victims.
'The Chinese Embassy extends deepest condolences to all the victims and sympathies to the bereaved families,' an embassy statement said. It did not offer further details on the victims.
Aviation experts have long worried DC's congested airspace could lead to catastrophe
Even in peak flying conditions, experts said, the airspace around Reagan Airport can challenge the most experienced pilots, who must navigate hundreds of other commercial planes, military aircraft and restricted areas around sensitive sites.
'This was a disaster waiting to happen,' said Ross Aimer, a retired United Airlines captain and chief executive officer of Aero Consulting Experts. 'Those of us who have been around a long time have been yelling into a vacuum that something like this would happen because our systems are stretched to extremes.'
A different regional jet had to maneuver around a military helicopter at Reagan Airport just over 24 hours prior to collision
Just over 24 hours before Wednesday's fatal midair collision, a different regional jet executed a go-around maneuver when descending to land at Reagan Airport due to a military helicopter in the same area.
Flight tracking sites and air traffic control logs show the Embraer E-175 was cleared to land at the airport's Runway 19 and advised about a helicopter in its vicinity. It executed a go-around after its automated collision avoidance system ordered what is known as a 'resolution advisory' to avoid nearby traffic, which put the aircraft out of proper alignment for landing. It landed safely minutes later.
The military helicopter, callsign PAT1, was advised of the descending airplane. Flight tracking sites show the plane flew roughly 1,000 feet (300 meters) above the helicopter, a normally acceptable separation.
Airline pilots are trained to respond immediately to resolution advisories, which are designed to avoid a potential mishap, but occasionally sound alarms for traffic that does not pose an immediate threat to safety.
Other deadly commercial airline crashes in the US
Fatal crashes of commercial aircraft in the U.S. have become a rarity. The deadliest recent crash was in 2009 near Buffalo, New York. All 45 passengers and the four crew members were killed when the Bombardier DHC-8 propeller plane crashed into a house. One person on the ground also was killed.
The collision Wednesday of the Bombardier CRJ-701 twin-engine plane and UH-60 Blackhawk occurred over the Potomac River and the aircraft fell into the water. In 1982 an Air Florida flight crashed into the Potomac and killed 78.
Pilots union says its accident investigation team is working with the NTSB
Jason Ambrosi, president of the Air Line Pilots Association said the union's accident investigation team was on the scene working with the National Transportation Safety Board, and its Critical Incident Response Program was working to support union members and the families involved in the collision.
'We mourn the loss of our friends, colleagues, and members of our ALPA and Association of Flight Attendants union family,' he said.
Ambrosi reiterated in a statement what the NTSB has said — the investigation must have the time to do its work.
'A lot of details and speculation will come out in response to this tragedy, but we must remember to let the investigation run its course,' he said.
Air traffic control staffing was normal, AP source says
One air traffic controller was responsible for coordinating helicopter traffic and arriving and departing planes when the collision happened, according to a report by the Federal Aviation Administration obtained by The Associated Press.
The configuration was 'not normal,' the report said, but a person familiar with the matter said the staffing at the air traffic control tower on Wednesday night was at a normal level. The positions are regularly combined when controllers need to step away from the console for breaks, are in the process of a shift change, or air traffic is slow, the person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal procedures.