Authorities found all 67 bodies in the Potomac River less than a week after an American Airlines flight crashed into a military helicopter near Washington, D.C.
Search and recovery efforts have ended after last Wednesday’s crash. Officials from Washington reported on Tuesday that 66 people have been found. The chief medical examiner’s office is still trying to name the last victim.
Officials said it was an important step towards finding peace after the crash.
“We are thinking of the families of the victims as they deal with this terrible loss,” the statement said. “We offer our heartfelt sympathy and will continue to help them during this tough time.”
Authorities will start removing the debris from the Potomac River.
The National Transportation Safety Board is looking into the crash that happened on Wednesday night. American Airlines Flight 5342, which was flying from Wichita, Kansas, crashed into an Army Black Hawk chopper near Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia.
On Tuesday, the NTSB announced that air traffic control data indicated the Black Hawk chopper was flying above the usual height of 200 feet allowed by FAA rules near that airport.
“The data indicated that the Black Hawk was at 300 feet on the air traffic control display when the collision happened.” The NTSB provided an update on the probe. “This data is rounded to the closest 100 feet.”
More work is needed to check the helicopter data points, it stated. The last recorded height of the passenger jet was approximately 375 feet, as reported by the airplane tracking website FlightAware.
The commercial flight had 64 people on it, including several young Olympic athletes returning from a figure skating event, and there were three soldiers on the chopper.
According to a statement from U.S. Figure Skating, 28 people on the plane were involved in ice skating, including teachers, athletes, and their family members.
Samuel Auxier, the temporary CEO of U.S. Figure Skating, said, “They were amazing athletes, loving family members, and dedicated coaches who put in a lot of effort for their athletes.” “They were cherished members of our worldwide skating community, and we all feel sad about their passing.”
Last week, the NTSB reported that they found the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder from the plane. The black boxes are now being examined in a lab. All the information from the plane’s devices and the helicopter’s black box is likely to be found.
The sky was clear on the night of the crash, so weather likely wasn’t a major factor.
There was only one air traffic director in the control tower on the night of the crash, according to someone familiar with an early report from the Federal Aviation Administration, who spoke to NBC News. That controller was in charge of both helicopters and jets.
Typically, there is a different person in the tower who manages helicopter traffic. However, FAA safety rules do permit one person to handle both helicopters and other air traffic.
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