Vaartschepen is expected to arrive in the DC area on Saturday to help with storage operations of the deadly aircraft crash from Wednesday to Wednesday Regan National Airport (DCA) As there are questions how an army Black Hawk -Helicopter could have collided with a middle song in the American Airlines plane, in which 67 people were killed.
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) member Todd Inman said on Friday that the indoor skills will help with storage operations to ensure that the remaining victims are found. He said that their remains would be transferred to them immediately and the office of the DC Medical Examiner for identification and then returned to their families.
At least 40 bodies were pulled out of the Potomac River on Friday. Both black boxes have been restored.
NTSB researchers investigate the so-called black box that has been restored from the plane of the American Airlines that crashed with a Black Hawk helicopter of the US Army near Washington, DC, Thursday, January 30, 2024. (NTSB)
DC Aircraft Crash Researchers Restore American Airlines Black Boxes after the collision in the air
A new report from the New York Post suggests that the Black Hawk flew almost twice as high as it should have been and that the helicopter was not equipped with a new technology that air traffic controller would have warned of his dangerously deviant path. In the meantime, a provisional report indicated that the workforce at the time of the collision “was not normal for the time of day and the traffic volume”.
The Black Hawk Chopper flew more than 300 feet above the Potomac River at the time of the deadly smash, although the aerial guidelines on that route require to stay under 200 feet, the exhaust reports.
The news would confirm the opinion of President Donald Trump that the military plane was traveling too high.
“The Black Hawk helicopter flew much too high. It was far above the limit of 200 feet,” wrote Trump on Truth Social Friday. “That is not really too complicated to understand, is it ???”
On Thursday, Trump signed an executive order in which it was called for an immediate assessment of aviation safety.
An image of the two flight routes. (Fox News)
Senator Ted CruzR-Texas, chairman of the Senate Committee for Trade, Science and Transport, which supervises the aviation industry, said that it was informed by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and detailed the order of events that resulted in the deadly deadly collision of Wednesday in Wednesday.
“Vlucht 5342 was initially planned to land on Runway 1 at Reagan, but was diverted to runway 33,” he wrote on X. “In the meantime, the helicopter traveled along route 1 before he was moved to route 4.”
“We know that air traffic control with the helicopter team confirmed that they had visual contact with the plane. Controllers then raised the helicopter to move behind the plane,” he added. “Instead of satisfying, the helicopter moved before the plane. The two aircraft collided in the air, which resulted in a catastrophic explosion.”
In an episode of the Podcast “The Verdict”, Cruz said that the collision was possible if the army had equipped the Black Hawk with an automatic dependent security device, a relatively new technology that can see operators of air traffic control. .
“The Black Hawk helicopter had a transponder, so it appeared on Radar. It had no technology called ADS-B, technology that ping the location of an airplane, and it does this with GPS instead of Radar,” he said. “ADS-B is more accurate and more reliable than just a transponder that ping on Radar.”
A general picture of the control tower on Reagan National Airport, Friday January 31, 2025. Fleeing has resumed since the tragic crash on Wednesday evening where a Jet of American Airlines collided with a Black Hawk -Helikopter in the US. (Leigh Green for Fox News Digital)
Air Traffic Controller left work for Crash early: Report
In the meantime, a provisional FAA report indicated that a single air traffic controller guarded both aircraft and helicopters at the time of the devastating crash.
Staff levels at the time of the collision were “not normal for the time of the day and the traffic volume,” reports the New York Times, referring to the report. Moreover, a tower counselor is said to have left another one Air Traffic Controller leaves early work on Wednesday night. The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) calls for one controller to control aircraft, while another Monitors helicopters.
The Times Report said that the tower at the airport was almost a third lower under targeted personnel levels, with 19 fully certified controllers from September 2023, referring to the most recent personnel plan for air traffic controller, an annual report at the congress that contains target and actual personnel levels .
The goals set by the FAA and the Controllers Union call for 30.
Five current and former controllers told the exhaust valve that the controller in the tower should direct the helicopter and the aircraft more proactid to fly away from each other. Instead, the controller asked the helicopter to stay away from the plane.
Another report from the New York Times suggests that more than 90% of the 313 air traffic control facilities of the country operate under the personnel levels recommended by the FAA.
Photos of some of the victims after the collision between an American Airlines -Jet and an American Black Hawk -Helikopter (Getty Images)
The New York Times reported that from January 285 facilities were lower than the levels that were set by the FAA and the Union that Controllers represents. At least 73 facilities are missing at least a quarter of the workforce.
The army the other soldiers killed in the collision. They were identified as Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39, Van Great Mills, Maryland and Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O’hara, 28, Van Lilburn, Georgia.
The third soldier family killed in the deadly Wednesday Midaar’s collision Near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport asks to not be released publicly, the army said on Friday.
The doomed American Airlines -plane transported more than a dozen people who returned from a training camp after the 2025 US figure skating championships in Wichita, Kansas, where the flight was created. Those victims were Spencer Lane And By far appear, Both 16, those promising skaters were in the Boston Skating Club in Norwood, Massachusetts, as well as Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov who together won a World Championship 1994 in couples of figure skates.
The flight of the American Airlines from Wichita, Kansas, collided with a military helicopter while approaching Ronald Reagan National Airport. According to reports, there were no survivors among 67 people on board both aircraft. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty images)
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In the meantime, the Federal Aviation Administration will limit the helicopter traffic around DCA, effectively Friday.
The decision was made with the support of Trump and in consultation with Minister of Defense Pete Hegseeth, according to a position on X from the Ministry of Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Sean Duffy.
“Today’s decision will immediately help to secure airspace near Reagan Airport, guaranteeing the safety of aircraft and helicopter traffic,” Duffy wrote.
The limited area includes Memorial Bridge to South Capitol Street Bridge, with the exception of the tidal basin, Haines Point to Wilson Bridge and over the top of DCA.
