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The National Transportation Safety Board says it has recovered two so-called “black boxes” from the American Airlines regional jet, following the deadly collision with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday evening.
The devices, a cockpit voice recorder and a flight data recorder, have been taken them for lab analysis, according to a NTSB spokesman.
The NTSB previously promised to “leave no stone unturned” in its investigation. Whether human or mechanical factors contributed to the crash that left 67 people dead is not yet clear, officials said.
A preliminary report by the Federal Aviation Administration found that staffing at the Ronald Reagan Airport air traffic control tower was “not normal” at the time of the deadly collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet.
The internal report, released on Thursday and reviewed by The New York Times said the controller who was handling helicopters in the airport’s vicinity on Wednesday night was also instructing planes that were landing and departing from its runways.
These jobs are typically assigned to two different controllers.
At a press briefing hours earlier, President Donald Trump linked the FAA’s diversity, equity and inclusion policies to the incident.
China offers condolences to Washington over air disaster
China offered deep condolences over the Washington air disaster, the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a post on Friday on its official website.
The post added that two Chinese citizens were killed in the crash and China is providing assistance to their relatives.
Angus Thompson31 January 2025 07:10
GOP Senator rips Trump’s blame of DEI programs for DC crash
Senator Lisa Murkowski ripped President Donald Trump’s comments blaming disability and diversity hires for the airplane-helicopter crash.
The Alaska Republican’s words come after Trump blamed Diversity, Equity and Inclusion practices for the crash near Reagan National Airport that killed 67 people. Specifically, the president criticized the Federal Aviation Administration’s recruitment program for people with intellectual disabilities.
Murkowski told The Independent exclusively that she felt awful for the families and everyone involved.
“I don’t know about you, but when I saw the when I saw the news of the crash last night and just waking up this morning and watching the briefing, your heart just goes out, not only to the families who lost loved ones, but to everybody who was part of that,” she said.
“Think about just the heartache of all of this,” she said. “So to to see a statement like that, where, without full, without full information about, really, what happened, other than a massive casualty, to suggest that it was, it was to be blamed because of the diversity hire, I think, I think, does not project, the level of empathy that we need to show for those who lost their loved ones.”
Mike Bedigan31 January 2025 07:00
Governor Brian Kemp sends condolences to families of ‘young Georgians’ killed in crash
Georgia governor Brian Kemp sent his “deepest condolences: to the families and friends of Ryan O’Hara and Sam Lilley, who both died in Wednesday’s collisions.
“Both of these young Georgians shared a passion for flight and for serving others, and this terrible tragedy is that much more difficult knowing their lives were cut so unexpectedly short,” Kemp wrote on X.
“Marty, the girls, and I ask that all Georgians join us in keeping their loved ones in our thoughts and prayers.”
O’Hara was part of the crew on the helicopter, while Lilley was piloting the passenger plane.
Mike Bedigan31 January 2025 06:00
Civil rights attorney, 30, named among victims on passenger jet
A young civil rights attorney on her way home to Washington D.C. from Kansas was among the 64 people that died on the passenger plane.
Kiah Duggins, 30, worked as an attorney for the Civil Rights Corps. She had been in Wichita to be with her mother during a surgical procedure, according to KMUW.
Duggins’ family members confirmed to the outlet on Thursday that she was onboard the flight.
Her father, Maurice Duggins, said in a statement: “We are coming to terms with the grief associated with the loss of our beautiful and accomplished firstborn. Please respect our family’s privacy at this time.”
Mike Bedigan31 January 2025 05:30
Footage shows American Airlines plane wreckage in Potomac River
Mike Bedigan31 January 2025 04:45
Multiple near-misses with helicopters reported at DCA prior to crash
Multiple near-misses involving helicopters near DCA had been recorded in the three years before Wednesday’s deadly crash, CNN reports.
Federal incident reports reviewed by the outlet, showed at least two other pilots reported near-misses with helicopters while landing at the airport.
On two occasions, in April 2024 and October 2022 respectively, passenger planes had to take evasive action to avoid colliding with a helicopter, according to reports filed by pilots.
In a third incident in September 2022, two military helicopters got too close together, an air traffic controller reported.
Mike Bedigan31 January 2025 04:20
Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding react to deaths of ice skaters in DC plane crash
Ice skating legends Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding have given emotional responses to the devastating deaths of fellow figure skaters in the Washington DC plane crash.
Mike Bedigan31 January 2025 04:00
‘You want me to go swimming?’: Trump says he won’t visit DC plane crash site because it’s ‘the water‘
Donald Trump responded sarcastically to questions about whether he would be visiting the site of the deadly crash over the Potomac River in Washington D.C., asking reporters at the White House: “You want me to go swimming?”
The president said on Thursday he would be meeting with some of the families of victims of the tragedy, which occurred at Ronald Reagan Airport Wednesday night. All 67 people involved in the crash are presumed dead, authorities said previously.
Mike Bedigan31 January 2025 03:32
Recap: What we know so far about the mid-air collision near Reagan Airport
There are likely no survivors after an American Airlines passenger jet and an Army helicopter crashed midair near Washington, D.C, Wednesday evening, officials have said.
Flight 5342 from Kansas was on the final approach to Ronald Reagan National Airport when it collided with the Black Hawk helicopter before exploding a huge fireball. There were 67 people aboard the two flights when they crashed.
Here is everything we know about the first commercial airline crash in the U.S. since 2009:
Mike Bedigan31 January 2025 03:00
