More than 40 bodies have been recovered from the Potomac River after a deadly mid-air collision sent an Army Black Hawk helicopter and American Airlines plane diving into the icy water earlier this week, officials confirmed to The Hill’s partner station NewsNation.
Around 67 people are feared dead — including 60 passengers and four crew members from the plane and the three soldiers aboard the military helicopter — after the Wednesday evening crash, making it one of the deadliest U.S. aviation accidents in nearly a quarter of a century.
Emergency response crews said they do not expect to find any survivors.
The Federal Aviation Administration released an initial report after the fatal incident raising concerns with the on-duty air traffic controller who was managing two posts.
Their evaluation was shared with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), who is leading the investigation into what caused the fatal collision.
“Our investigators are continuing to pull all that information, their personnel records, their files, where they were at, whether they were fatigued. All that information will be part of that investigative process,” Brice Banning, a senior aviation accident investigator, told reporters at a Thursday press briefing.
“But right now, we can’t speculate on anything that may have been reported in the media until we get the opportunity to validate and understand how it impacts the investigation,” he added.
Response teams are still working to recover aircraft parts and additional bodies from the river while supporting family members of the deceased.
President Trump in remarks from the White House Thursday seemed to blame the crash on hiring practices, citing diversity equity and inclusion programs at the Federal Aviation Administration, and claimed Friday in a post online that the helicopter was flying “too high.”
NTSB has urged the public not to speculate about the cause of the tragic incident.
