Washington DC Plane Crash: Authorities Recover 41 Bodies After Mid-air Collision

Authorities have recuperated 41 bodies after an aircraft crash in Washington DC.

Sixty-seven people were killed when an American Airlines jet and a military helicopter collided mid-air on Wednesday night. Up until now, 28 bodies have been determined.

Both airplane crashed into the Potomac River after the collision. Some 300 workers were sent out to the scene, however the rescue quickly developed into a healing mission as authorities said there were no survivors.

Washington crash: Follow the most recent updates

Federal private investigators have recovered the black boxes from the passenger jet, while authorities were still looking for similar gadgets in the helicopter.

Meanwhile, amid concerns over how well the airport’s control tower was staffed on the night of the crash, it’s been that an air traffic control service manager had let a controller leave their shift early.

The detail, first reported by the New York Times, has been validated to Sky News’ US partner NBC News by a source acquainted with the investigation.

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It indicates a single controller was managing both plane and helicopter traffic in the area when the two aircraft clashed.

It is permitted – but not optimum – for one controller to do both jobs, NBC News reported.

The American Airlines jet was bring 60 passengers and four crew when it crashed with the Black Hawk helicopter, carrying three soldiers, shortly before 9pm local time on Wednesday.

Flight 5342 was preparing to arrive at runway 33 at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport when it collided with the helicopter in among the most tightly controlled airspaces in the world.

‘Em ergency vehicles sped past me’

A man whose wife was on the flight has remembered how he saw emergency situation services “speeding past” as he was waiting at the airport to choose her up.

Hamaad Raza informed NBC News his other half of 2 years, Asra, had actually “texted me [and] said, ‘We’re landing in 20 minutes'”.

” I was waiting and I began seeing a lot of EMS lorries speeding past me … method a lot of, [more] than regular and my texts weren’t going through.”

Trump makes unverified variety drive claim

Donald Trump has linked a variety drive at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) under previous governments to the crash.

It has given that been said there is no proof to support the US president’s claim.

Speaking at the White House on Thursday, Mr Trump recommended the diversity efforts had made air travel less safe.

At a White House press rundown on Friday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Mr Trump had signed a memorandum directing an immediate evaluation of FAA working with choices made during the previous administration.

While Mr Trump’s claim appears to have been exposed, there are questions over staffing at Reagan Washington National Airport.

NBC News reported staffing in the air traffic control tower was “not regular”, according to an initial FAA report.

The tower normally has a controller who focuses specifically on helicopter traffic – but at the time of the crash, a source said, one controller was overseeing both plane and helicopter activity.

The FAA, which controls air traffic control service as well as certification of workers and aircraft, is without a permanent administrator. Its previous boss Michael Whitaker stepped down on 20 January – the day of Mr Trump’s inauguration.

Follow Trump 100 on your podcast app Mr Trump has selected an acting administrator, Chris Rocheleau, in the wake of the crash.

Mr Whitaker had encountered Mr Trump’s confidante Elon Musk over the SpaceX rocket launches during his tenure at the FAA.

Since starting as head of the administration in October 2023, he was also required to react to Boeing’s security and quality issues, and worked to work with more air traffic controllers due to a scarcity of personnel.

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Washington DC airplane crash: What we understand so far.
Air traffic control heard diverting planes minutes after accident

At his briefing, Mr Trump blamed former president Joe Biden for reducing standards for air traffic controllers.

” We need to have our smartest individuals,” he said. “They have to be naturally talented geniuses.”

Mr Trump added: “The FAA is actively hiring workers who suffer severe intellectual impairments, psychiatric issues, and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and addition hiring initiative defined on the company’s site.”

The American Association of People with Disabilities responded to these claims, stating in a declaration on X: “FAA workers with impairments did not cause [the] terrible airplane crash.

” The examination into the crash is still continuous. It is extremely inappropriate for the president to utilize this tragedy to push an anti-diversity hiring program. Doing so makes all Americans less safe.”

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Mr Trump said after being sworn in recently, he signed an executive order which “restored the greatest requirements of air traffic controllers”.

At a later rundown, he was asked if gender or race contributed. He addressed: “It might have, I don’t know.