ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Recovery crews and divers searched the wreckage Saturday and cleared its wreckage from an airborne collision between a passenger jet and an Army helicopter that killed 67 people Saturday.
Check out the National Traffic Safety Commission briefing on the players above.
Occasionally, members of the recovery team slipped into the water in a group of small emergency boats, and were equipped with Coast Guard cutters equipped with cranes that the wreckage awaited.
No one survived the Wednesday night clash. According to Washington emergency officials, 42 bodies were pulled out of the river by Saturday afternoon. They hope to recover all the bodies, but the remains of the plane's fuselage will likely have to be pulled out of the water to get all the bodies, officials said.
Watch: Former FAA administrator discusses the current state of aviation safety
On Friday night, the helicopter “has been temporarily stabilized with cranes to support recovery efforts, but has not been removed from the water,” Washington Fire and the EMS department said in a statement Saturday.
The collision occurred as an American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas, carrying 64 passengers, was preparing to land from the country's capital over Potomac at Ronald Reagan National Airport, apparently a jet road. It attacked an Army Black Hawk helicopter that flew to it. The helicopter had three soldiers.
Army officials say the helicopter crew is very experienced and familiar with the busy skies of the city. Military aircraft frequently make such flights to practice routes used when key government officials need to be evacuated during an attack or major catastrophe.
Investigators are investigating military pilots and air traffic control actions. A full NTSB investigation usually takes at least a year, but investigators hope to provide a preliminary report within 30 days.
Other possible factors in the crash, including the altitude of the helicopter and whether the crew were using night vision goggles, are still under investigation, Defense Secretary Pete Hegses told Fox News Channel.
Black boxes were recovered from both aircraft.
More than 300 responders were involved in recovery efforts at certain times, officials said. After a rainy Friday, clear skies and warm temperatures were better for field workers on Saturday. Two naval rescue crafts were also expected to arrive to lift heavy debris.
“It's heartbreaking work,” Washington, D.C. Fire Chief John Donnelly Sr. told reporters Friday. “It was a tough response for a lot of us.”
On Saturday, a trio of longtime friends came to the Potomac coastline looking for a way to remember the victims.
Nancy Corey, Beth Yesford and Bonnie Gray, from Maryland and Virginia, struggled to sleep Wednesday night after crashing. They eventually found a marina in Alexandria, Virginia. Not too far from where the plane collided, they threw flowers into the river. The white dome of the US Capitol was visible in the distance.
“Everyone in the area uses that airport, for work, for his family,” Corey said. “It's just – there are no words.”
“It's people,” Gray said. “We're here to pay tribute to those people.”
In a country already grieving the collision, an air force plane crashed into a busy intersection in a crowded Philadelphia neighborhood on Friday night, bringing all six people on board, including a child who had just been treated at a hospital and at least one person. I killed everyone who was doing it. ground. At least three people remained hospitalized Saturday with injuries, but officials said it could take several days for the complete damage to the death and injured to be revealed.
In Washington, the Federal Aviation Administration, which severely restricted helicopter traffic around the airport on Friday, hours after President Donald Trump claimed helicopters were flying higher than allowed in a social media post. , significantly restricted helicopter traffic.
NTSB member Todd Inman told reporters that investigators had interviewed at least one air traffic controller who was working at the time of the crash. He said the interview was ongoing and the number of controllers on duty at the time was unknown.
Read more: NTSB's quick guide to investigating DC plane collisions
In addition to examining controller records, investigators also investigate staffing levels, training, employment and other factors.
The FAA has long struggled with a shortage of air traffic controllers.
Officials say the maximum allowed altitude for the helicopter at the time was 200 feet, but they have not said whether the limit has been exceeded.
But on Friday, Trump said the helicopter was “flying” after he questioned the actions of helicopter pilots and condemned the diversity initiative to undermine the safety of the Air Force.
“It was way above the 200-foot limit. That's really not complicated. Trump wrote in the Truth Social Post.
Wednesday's crash crash was the most deadly in the United States since November 12, 2001, since the jet was slammed into a residential area in New York City's Queens area shortly after takeoff from Kennedy Airport. The collision killed all 260 people on board and five people on the ground.
While experts regularly emphasize that air travel is overwhelmingly safe, the busy airspace around Reagan National can be challenged even by the most experienced pilots.
