(CLO) The plane's black box and 41 bodies have been found in the mid-air collision between an American Airlines passenger plane and a military helicopter that killed 67 people in Washington, USA last Thursday.
Investigators have recovered the helicopter's black box, which records flight data and cockpit voices, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) member Todd Inman said at an afternoon news conference.
Information from the black boxes, along with the CRJ700's cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, could help authorities piece together what happened just before the two planes collided Wednesday night and plunged into Washington's Potomac River in the deadliest U.S. aviation disaster in two decades.
Restrictions on helicopter flights
Authorities have not yet determined the cause and Inman said the council would not speculate until the investigation is complete.
The Federal Aviation Administration has sharply restricted helicopter flights to reduce the risk of another collision, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said early Friday.
Rescue teams work near debris at the plane crash site on the Potomac River in Washington, U.S., on January 30, 2025. Photo: U.S. Coast Guard
The FAA prohibits most types of helicopters from flying on certain routes near the airport and only allows police helicopters, medical helicopters, air defense helicopters and presidential transport helicopters to fly in the area between the airport and nearby bridges.
The restrictions will last at least until the NTSB releases its preliminary report on the fatal crash, which typically takes 30 days. At that point, it will review it, Duffy said.
American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said the airline would work with the government "to make our aviation system even safer, including increasing investments in infrastructure, technology and people."
Rescue crews have recovered 41 bodies so far, officials said. Inman said that pulling debris from the Potomac River would begin “in earnest” on Sunday, an effort that could last all week.
Washington DC Police Chief John Donnelly told reporters that 28 bodies have been identified and he hopes all victims will eventually be found.
An American Airlines flight was attempting to land when it collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter, killing all 60 passengers and four crew members on board. Two of the three service members killed on the helicopter were identified Friday.
The victims in the crash included people from Russia, China, Germany and the Philippines, as well as young figure skaters returning from an elite national training camp in Kansas, the state from which the passenger flight took off.
“The Blackhawk helicopter flew too high”
The crash has raised concerns about aviation safety and a shortage of air traffic controllers at the busy airport serving the US capital.
The FAA is about 3,000 air traffic controllers short of its staffing needs. The agency said it expects to have 10,700 certified air traffic controllers in 2023, about the same as a year earlier.
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Video from a new perspective on the Washington plane crash (source: X/WP)
According to a 2021 report by the Government Accountability Office, during the three-year period ending in 2019, there were an average of 80 helicopter flights per day within 30 miles (48 km) of Reagan National Airport, including about 30 military flights and 16 law enforcement flights.
The helicopter's flight path was also noted. The military said the maximum altitude the helicopter was flying was 200 feet (61 meters), but the crash occurred at an altitude of about 300 feet, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24.
President Donald Trump said on Friday that the helicopter involved in the crash was flying too high. “The Blackhawk helicopter was flying too high, way too high. It was way above the 200-foot limit,” he said in a post on Truth Social.
Sen. Maria Cantwell, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, questioned the safety of military and commercial flights being separated by just 350 feet (107 m) vertically and horizontally.
Radio communications show that air traffic controllers warned the helicopter of the approaching jet and ordered it to change course. However, the tragic accident was still unavoidable.
Hoang Hai (according to NTSB, Reuters, WP)
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/tham-hoa-hang-khong-o-washington-hop-den-may-bay-va-41-thi-the-duoc-tim-thay-post332558.html
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