Family members of victims of the deadliest U.S. air disaster in nearly 25 years visited the crash site just outside Washington DC.
Dozens of people walked along the banks of the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport, close to where 67 people died in a mid-air collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines jet last Wednesday.
Crews have recovered and identified the bodies of 55 victims in the deadly aircraft collision, officials said. DC Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said divers still need to find the bodies of 12 victims and are committed to the dignified recovery of remains as they prepare to lift wreckage from the Potomac as early as Monday.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Army has identified the third pilot of the Black Hawk helicopter as Captain Rebecca M Lobach, 28, from North Carolina.
In a statement, her family said: “We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Rebecca. She was a bright star in all our lives. She was kind, generous, brilliant, funny, ambitious and strong. No one dreamed bigger or worked harder to achieve her goals.”
DC plane crash data show conflicting altitude readings from American Airlines jet and military helicopter
Preliminary flight data from the deadly mid-air collision between an American Airlines jet and a U.S. military Black Hawk helicopter in Washington, DC has shown a significant discrepancy in altitude readings between the aircraft upon collision.
Data from the flight recorder inside American Eagle flight 5342 suggested it was cruising at about 325ft, with a 25ft margin of error on either side, when the aircraft collided over the Potomac River, adjacent to Reagan National Airport at 8:53 p.m. last Wednesday, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
However, data gathered from the air traffic control tower read that the military helicopter was flying at an altitude of about 200ft upon colliding with the commercial plane. The approximate 100ft discrepancy has not yet been explained.
Graig Graziosi3 February 2025 18:00
WATCH: Crews begin removing wreckage from Potomac River after deadly DC plane crash
Graig Graziosi3 February 2025 17:24
First major pieces of wreckage have been pulled from Potomac River crash site
Recovery crews have removed the first major pieces of airplane wreckage from the Potomac River after an American Airlines regional jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed in midair last week.
Large lifts were brought to the river on Monday for use by the Army Corps of Engineers in the ongoing recovery process.
DC fire officials said over the weekend that the yet-to-be accounted for bodies will likely be recovered as larger pieces of the airplane and helicopter are removed.
The Army Corps of Engineers said it will first remove the remnants of the regional jet, and then the helicopter.
The loved ones of the victims were taken to the Ptomoac River shoreline near Regan International Airport for a short memorial on Sunday.
Graig Graziosi3 February 2025 16:31
Flight attendant killed was on her final flight before switching positions
A flight attendant who was planning to switch roles at American Airlines was on her final flight when she was killed in last week’s crash.
Danasia Brown was reportedly going to switch to a new role at the airline that would see her off the planes, according to her cousin, Carolyn Edwards.
Graig Graziosi3 February 2025 16:00
Two Chinese nationals were on-board the American Airlines flight
According to the Chinese embassy in Washington, DC, two of the individuals killed in the American Airlines – Black Hawk helicopter crash last week were Chinese nationals.
The embassy has not released the names of the two victims.
Graig Graziosi3 February 2025 15:45
Army Corps of Engineers says salvage work should be finished by February 12
The Army Corps of Engineers is leading the effort to recover the submerged remains of the regional jet and Army Black Hawk helicopter that crashed over the Potomac River last week.
The corps said in a press statement that its initial focus will be on recovering the regional jet, and then on recovering the Black Hawk.
The salvage and recovery operation is expected to last until February 12. The lifts needed to drag the larger chunks of the airplane from the water are expected to be in use until February 8.
Graig Graziosi3 February 2025 15:30
Heavy equipment needed to continue body recovery
DC Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly told CNN that heavier equipment would be needed to move the larger pieces of the plane submerged in the Potomac River.
Moving the larger chunks of the aircraft will be necessary to find the bodies of the remaining victims.
David Hoagland, president of the Washington, DC, Firefighters Local 36, told CNN that the recovery operation would get “complicated” as larger pieces of equipment were incorporated.
“Things have kind of slowed down this weekend because they’re waiting on a lot more heavier salvage equipment that’s going to be showing up sometime in the next 24 to 36 hours,” Hoagland told CNN over the weekend. “They’re going to be setting up for a pretty complicated operation where they’re going to be removing plane parts from the water on Monday.”
Graig Graziosi3 February 2025 15:15
Civil rights attorney and former Beauty pageant winner among the 67 killed in DC mid-air collision
Teenage ice skating stars, their parents, and a soon-to-be-married pilot are some of the other souls lost in the January 29 tragedy.
All 64 people aboard the American Airlines jet and three aboard the Army Black Hawk helicopter are believed to have died after the aircraft crashed mid-air in a massive fireball and plunged into the icy Potomac River near Reagan Washington National Airport.
As of Sunday afternoon, 55 bodies had been recovered from the water, as families with loved ones aboard the flight wait to hear the worst.
Alex Croft3 February 2025 14:31