Investigators recover flight, cockpit recorders from passenger jet in deadly mid-air collision

One air traffic controller was working two positions when a passenger jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided in mid-air with a military helicopter near Washington late Wednesday, according to a report from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The report, obtained by The Associated Press, says the staffing configuration "was not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic."

The plane was landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Va., when it collided with the helicopter and fell into the icy Potomac River. Officials have since transitioned from a rescue effort to recovering bodies.

The U.S. army described the helicopter as a UH-60 Black Hawk based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. An army official said a crew of three soldiers were on board the helicopter, which was on a training flight.

"At this point we don't believe there are any survivors," said John Donnelly, chief of the DC Fire and EMS Department, at a Thursday morning news conference. He said responders were switching to a recovery mission.

U.S. President Donald Trump, at the White House, also said there were no survivors of the crash.

WATCH | Rescuing survivors unlikely, official says: Footage from a CCTV camera caught the moment of impact as a passenger plane and a U.S. Army helicopter collided. Audio from air traffic control, meanwhile, captures some of the immediate aftermath of the collision.

First responders have recovered the bodies of 28 people who were on American Airlines Flight 5342, officials said, which was arriving from Wichita, Kan.

Some 300 first responders were on scene. Inflatable rescue boats were launched into the river from a point along the George Washington Parkway, just north of the airport, and first responders set up light towers from the shore to illuminate the area near the site of the collision. 

Global Affairs Canada, in a response to CBC News, said it "is not aware of any Canadians" on board the jet.

Officials puzzled

In an afternoon news conference, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) officials say they could not speak to the cause of the crash, but aim to have a preliminary report done within 30 days. 

"If we find something that is a significant issue that warrants immediate action, we will not hesitate to make those recommendations and make them public," said NTSB member Todd Inman.

NTSB investigators later said they recovered the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the plane, and that the recorders are at their labs for evaluation.

Conditions were clear at the time of the crash, according to new Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

"We will not rest until we have answers for the families and the flying public," he said.

The body of the plane was found inverted, in three sections, in waist-deep water. The wreckage of the helicopter was also found. Donnelly said first responders on Thursday were searching an area of the river that spanned about five kilometres. 

WATCH | Caution: Video shows moment of impact: Abadi Ismail heard the collision of an American Airlines regional passenger jet and a U.S. army Black Hawk helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and says it was like something out of a war zone. Trump speculates at cause of crash

"At this time, we don't know why the military aircraft came into the path of the … aircraft," said American Airlines CEO Robert Isom. He expressed "deep sorrow" for the crash and said the company was focused on the needs of passengers, crew, first responders and families and loved ones of those involved.

Trump, at the White House, said it was a "time of anguish" for the nation and that the casualties included people from multiple countries.

But he then launched into extended remarks speculating about the cause of the crash without evidence, and appearing to blame, at various points, air traffic controllers, the helicopter pilots and Democratic policies at federal agencies.

Without evidence, Trump posited that diversity hiring efforts at the FAA had undermined the agency.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Trump's comments about the crash "turns your stomach."

"It's one thing for internet pundits to spew off conspiracy theories, it's another for the president of the United States," Schumer said.

A shortage of air traffic controllers in the U.S. in recent years has spurred safety concerns. At several facilities, controllers work mandatory overtime and six-day work weeks to cover shortages. The FAA has about 3,000 fewer controllers than it says it needs.

Figure skating community devastated

Passengers on the flight included a group of figure skaters, their coaches and family members who were returning from a development camp that followed the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita.

"We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims' families closely in our hearts," U.S. Figure Skating said in a statement.

Plane wreckage is shown in the Potomac River near Arlington, Va., on Thursday morning, following a midair collision between an airliner and a military helicopter over Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. (Mark Schiefelbein/The Associated Press)

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed to reporters Thursday that former Russian figure skaters Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were also on the plane. Shishkova and Naumov, who lived and coached in Boston, won the pairs title at the 1994 world championships as well as Skate Canada in 1995.

Their son, Maxim Naumov, is a competitive figure skater. He was not on the flight, having flown from Kansas on Monday.

"Folks are just stunned by this," said Doug Zeghibe, CEO of the Skating Club of Boston, where the couple was employed. "They are like family to us."

Zeghibe said six people associated with the club were killed — including 16-year-olds Jinna Han and Spencer Lane, and the mothers of both of those skaters.

In Russia, Peskov said "there were other fellow citizens" there without specifying.

"We are sorry and send condolences to the families and friends who lost those of our fellow citizens who died in the plane crash," he said.

'Tower did you see that?'

Investigators will try to piece together the aircrafts' final moments before their collision around 9 p.m. ET, including contact with air traffic controllers as well as a loss of altitude by the passenger jet. Flight 5342 was inbound at an altitude of about 120 metres and a speed of about 225 km/h when it suffered a rapid loss of altitude over the Potomac, according to data from its radio transponder.

The Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ-701 twin-engine jet was manufactured in 2004 and can be configured to carry up to 70 passengers.

The NTSB, FAA and U.S. army are all investigating, with the NTSB taking the lead role.

WATCH | Passenger planes and military aircraft often cross paths in D.C., pilot says:John Cox, a former airline pilot and accident investigator, says there was nothing unusual about the mix of commercial and military aircraft around Reagan National Airport before the mid-air collision of an American Airlines regional passenger jet and a U.S. army Black Hawk helicopter near Washington, D.C. He says a complete investigation into what caused the crash could take 18 months.

A few minutes before landing, air traffic controllers asked the arriving commercial jet if it could land on the shorter Runway 33 and the pilots said they could. Controllers then cleared it to land. Flight tracking sites showed the plane adjust its approach to the new runway.

In audio from the air traffic control tower around the time of the crash, a controller is heard asking the helicopter, "PAT25 do you have the CRJ in sight?" in reference to the passenger aircraft.

"Tower did you see that?" another pilot is heard calling seconds after the apparent collision.

The tower immediately began diverting other aircraft from the airport.

Few U.S.-based air disasters in recent years

Video from an observation camera at the nearby Kennedy Center shows two sets of lights consistent with aircraft appearing to join in a fireball.

The airport was set to reopen by midday Thursday, though it advised passengers to check their flight status as some flights would be delayed or cancelled.

Military aircraft frequently conduct training flights in and around the congested and heavily restricted airspace around the nation's capital for familiarization and continuity of government planning. In 2023, nine soldiers were killed when two U.S. army Black Hawk medical evacuation helicopters crashed during a nighttime training exercise near Fort Campbell in Kentucky.

The last major fatal crash involving a U.S. commercial airline occurred in 2009 near Buffalo, N.Y. Everyone aboard the Bombardier DHC-8 propeller plane was killed, including 45 passengers, two pilots and two flight attendants. Another person on the ground also died, bringing the total death toll to 50. 

Signs indicate the airport's closure in the wake of the crash. The National Transportation Safety Board, Federal Aviation Administration and U.S. army are all involved in the investigation. (Mark Schiefelbein/The Associated Press)

The deadliest American Airlines crash this century took place on Nov. 12, 2001, when an Airbus plane crashed shortly after takeoff in New York City. All 260 people on board the flight en route to Dominican Republic were killed. 

On Jan. 13, 1982, an  Air Florida flight plummeted into the Potomac, killing 78 people. That crash was attributed to bad weather.