Authorities are set to continue recovery efforts on Friday for the two aircraft involved in a fatal crash in Washington, which claimed 67 lives and raised concerns about air safety in the U.S. capital. After retrieving the black boxes from the American Airlines plane that plunged into the Potomac River following a collision with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday, divers will search for additional wreckage, according to Washington’s fire department. The investigation, led by the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board, and the Army, will focus on determining what caused the plane to lose control and crash. Officials will analyze flight data and radio communications, though the process could take a year or more to reach definitive conclusions.
Air traffic controllers in the area where the crash occurred will also be interviewed, as will the pilots of both the passenger plane and the helicopter. A top Army official described the helicopter crew as “very experienced” and familiar with the congested flying that takes place daily around the nation’s capital. Jonathan Koziol, chief of staff for Army aviation, said the crew of the helicopter was only a few hundred feet above its maximum allowed altitude.
Investigators are expected to focus on how a passenger plane equipped with collision-avoidance technology and nearby air traffic controllers could collide with a military helicopter in the busy sky over Washington. The area is known for crowded skies, with hundreds of commercial aircraft landing and taking off at Reagan airport every day and helicopters—both civilian and carrying senior politicians—buzzing the city day and night.
The American Airlines flight from Wichita was heading to Reagan National Airport when it collided with the helicopter, whose pilot was also killed. The plane was destroyed and plummeted into the frigid Potomac River. The airline said it was a Bombardier CRJ-701 twin-engine jet carrying about 70 passengers.
Those on board included Kiah Duggins, a 30-year-old attorney for the Civil Rights Corps who worked to protect the rights of women and minorities. Two other Americans and a Chinese citizen were killed. Family members of those aboard gathered at the site of the accident Thursday, waiting for information about their loved ones. Hamaad Raza, whose wife was on the plane, said she texted him about 20 minutes before the crash, telling him they were about to land. He said that he knew something was wrong when his wife’s responses stopped coming.
The crash was the latest in several incidents that have drawn scrutiny to aviation safety in the United States. President Donald Trump has criticized what he describes as lax standards but has not explicitly addressed the crash at Reagan Airport. The White House says he has been briefed on the incident. Trump canceled his planned trip to Asia on Thursday as the rescue effort continues. The White House has halted flights and is sending government employees home from work.