At daybreak, crews began removing large parts of the wreckage of American Airlines Flight 5342. Crews say Monday's search yielded results during recovery and salvage operations today. Additional human remains were located. New remains were covered in addition to the already positively identified 55 sets of human remains. Heavy machinery crews advancing slowly and carefully, noting that they are committed to *** dignified recovery of remains. Monday cranes could be seen extracting wreckage previously too difficult or dangerous for divers to handle piece by piece. Our goal for today was to get to. The engine, the fuselage and the wing, and we're going to be successful by the end of the day. The National Transportation and Safety Board, or NTSB is leading the investigation. They recovered the so-called black boxes from both aircraft last week. The NTSB is expected to release more detailed findings from the recovered flight data and voice recorders after they're analyzed. All of every piece of information is critical to the investigation. And the NTSB is about transparency. So when we can provide that, I think that'll be helpful to provide some additional context and what we're looking at in this investigation. Preliminary findings indicate the jet's crew may have seen the Black Hawk prior to the collision. They pitched the nose up towards the sky most likely, but it means they saw it just *** second before impact. You cannot move out of the way that fast. I'm Sherelle Hubbard reporting.
Remains recovered of all 67 victims of deadly midair collision near Washington
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Updated: 10:09 PM CST Feb 4, 2025
The remains of all 67 victims of last week's midair collision of an American Airlines flight and an Army helicopter near Washington, D.C., have been recovered, authorities said Tuesday.Meanwhile, the NTSB said it was examining new data that could put the helicopter above its 200-foot flight ceiling. The airport's air traffic control screen 鈥� relying on radar sensors and other data 鈥� had it at 300 feet, the agency said. However, that figure would have been rounded to the nearest 100 feet, according to authorities.Investigators said they need to get more information from the still-submerged Black Hawk to verify the data.The jet鈥檚 flight recorder showed its altitude as 325 feet, plus or minus 25 feet.Earlier in the day, crews working in choppy conditions raised a number of large pieces of the jetliner from the Potomac River, including the right wing, the center fuselage and parts of the forward cabin, cockpit, tail cone and rudder.鈥淥ur hearts are with the victims鈥� families as they navigate this tragic loss,鈥� officials said in a joint statement from the city and federal agencies involved in the search and recovery, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Navy dive teams and Washington police and fire crews.The chief medical examiner will be working to positively identify the final set of remains, officials said.The collision occurred last Wednesday night as the plane was about to land at nearby Ronald Reagan National Airport, killing everyone on board both aircraft.Authorities said early on that they expected to recover the remains of everyone who died, and they are now focusing on retrieving the jet and hope to recover the helicopter later this week.On Monday salvage crews were able to pull one of the two jet engines from the river, along with large pieces of the plane鈥檚 exterior, Col. Francis B. Pera of the Army Corps of Engineers said.Sixty passengers and four crew were on the American Airlines flight, including figure skaters returning from the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita.The Black Hawk was on a training mission. Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O鈥橦ara, 28, of Lilburn, Georgia; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39, of Great Mills, Maryland; and Capt. Rebecca M. Lobach, of Durham, North Carolina, were aboard.Federal investigators are trying to piece together the events that led to the collision. Full investigations typically take a year or more, but investigators hope to have a preliminary report within 30 days.Wednesday鈥檚 crash was the deadliest in the U.S. since Nov. 12, 2001, when a jet slammed into a New York City neighborhood just after takeoff, killing all 260 people on board and five on the ground.
WASHINGTON — The remains of all 67 victims of last week's midair collision of an American Airlines flight and an Army helicopter near Washington, D.C., have been recovered, authorities said Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the NTSB said it was examining new data that could put the helicopter above its 200-foot flight ceiling. The airport's air traffic control screen 鈥� relying on radar sensors and other data 鈥� had it at 300 feet, the agency said. However, that figure would have been rounded to the nearest 100 feet, according to authorities.
Investigators said they need to get more information from the still-submerged Black Hawk to verify the data.
The jet鈥檚 flight recorder showed its altitude as 325 feet, plus or minus 25 feet.
Earlier in the day, crews working in choppy conditions raised a number of large pieces of the jetliner from the Potomac River, including the right wing, the center fuselage and parts of the forward cabin, cockpit, tail cone and rudder.
鈥淥ur hearts are with the victims鈥� families as they navigate this tragic loss,鈥� officials said in a joint statement from the city and federal agencies involved in the search and recovery, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Navy dive teams and Washington police and fire crews.
The chief medical examiner will be working to positively identify the final set of remains, officials said.
The collision occurred last Wednesday night as the plane was about to land at nearby Ronald Reagan National Airport, killing everyone on board both aircraft.
Authorities said early on that they expected to recover the remains of everyone who died, and they are now focusing on retrieving the jet and hope to recover the helicopter later this week.
On Monday salvage crews were able to pull one of the two jet engines from the river, along with large pieces of the plane鈥檚 exterior, Col. Francis B. Pera of the Army Corps of Engineers said.
Sixty passengers and four crew were on the American Airlines flight, including figure skaters returning from the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita.
The Black Hawk was on a training mission. Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O鈥橦ara, 28, of Lilburn, Georgia; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39, of Great Mills, Maryland; and Capt. Rebecca M. Lobach, of Durham, North Carolina, were aboard.
Federal investigators are trying to piece together the events that led to the collision. Full investigations typically take a year or more, but investigators hope to have a preliminary report within 30 days.
Wednesday鈥檚 crash was the deadliest in the U.S. since Nov. 12, 2001, when a jet slammed into a New York City neighborhood just after takeoff, killing all 260 people on board and five on the ground.
