On this undated picture supplied by the Nationwide Transportation Security Board, NTSB investigators and members of the salvage crew get well wreckage from the Military Black Hawk helicopter that collided with an American Airways jet Wednesday night time, Jan. 29, 2025, close to Ronald Reagan Washington Nationwide Airport in Arlington, Va. (NTSB through AP)
ARLINGTON, Va. — Crews have been on the scene on the Potomac River on Monday to retrieve the submerged wreckage of an airliner and an Military helicopter that collided midair within the deadliest U.S. air catastrophe since 2001.
Authorities have recovered and recognized 55 of the 67 folks killed within the crash and Washington, D.C., Hearth and EMS Chief John Donnelly has stated they’re assured all might be discovered. Crews have been anticipated to start the work of lifting the wreckage on Monday and at dawn they might be seen aboard a vessel with a crane.
Greater than 300 responders have been collaborating within the restoration effort at a given time, officers stated. Two Navy barges have been additionally deployed to elevate heavy wreckage.
Divers and salvage employees are adhering to strict protocols and can cease shifting particles if a physique is discovered, Col. Francis B. Pera of the Military Corps of Engineers stated Sunday. The “dignified restoration” of stays takes priority over all else, he stated.
Parts of the 2 plane that collided over the river Wednesday night time close to Reagan Washington Nationwide Airport — an American Airways jet with 64 folks aboard and an Military Black Hawk helicopter with 3 aboard — might be loaded onto flatbed vehicles and brought to a hangar for investigation.
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The crash occurred when the jet, en route from Wichita, Kansas, was about to land. The Black Hawk was on a coaching mission. There have been no survivors.
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On Sunday, relations have been taken in buses with a police escort to the Potomac River financial institution close to the place the 2 plane got here to relaxation after colliding.
The aircraft’s passengers included determine skaters returning from the 2025 U.S. Determine Skating Championships in Wichita and a gaggle of hunters getting back from a guided journey. Military Workers Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara, 28, of Lilburn, Georgia; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39, of Nice Mills, Maryland; and Capt. Rebecca M. Lobach, of Durham, North Carolina, have been within the helicopter.
Federal investigators have been working to piece collectively the occasions that led to the collision. Full investigations sometimes take a yr or extra. Investigators hope to have a preliminary report inside 30 days.
Wednesday’s crash was the deadliest within the U.S. since Nov. 12, 2001, when a jet slammed right into a New York Metropolis neighborhood simply after takeoff, killing all 260 folks on board and 5 on the bottom.
Specialists stress that aircraft journey is overwhelmingly secure, however the crowded airspace round Reagan Airport can problem even skilled pilots.
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