ARLINGTON, Va. — Authorities announced Tuesday that they have successfully recovered the remains of all 67 individuals who lost their lives in the tragic midair collision between an American Airlines plane and an Army helicopter near Washington, D.C., that occurred last week.
Officials disclosed that the chief medical examiner is still working to definitively identify one set of remains, as efforts continue. The announcement came amidst ongoing recovery operations in the Potomac River, where crews are focused on retrieving the cockpit and other significant components of the jet. The success of these operations depends on the prevailing wind and tidal conditions in the river, following the crash, which transpired last Wednesday night as the aircraft was approaching Ronald Reagan National Airport for landing. All passengers aboard both aircraft perished in the incident.
By midday, salvage teams had set about raising another sizable section of the aircraft from the river. The National Transportation Safety Board indicated that they would not provide further on-site updates during the recovery process. Early assessments from authorities had suggested that all remains would be recovered, and the initial efforts are concentrated on the jet, with plans to work on the recovery of the Black Hawk helicopter later this week.
Colonel Francis B. Pera from the Army Corps of Engineers noted that salvage teams successfully retrieved one of the two jet engines on Monday, alongside considerable sections of the aircraft’s exterior. They are also aiming to recover a wing from the jet, which originated in Wichita, Kansas.
The American Airlines flight, which had 60 passengers and four crew members, included figure skaters returning from the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships held in Wichita. The Army helicopter was conducting a training mission at the time of the incident. Among those on the helicopter were Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara, 28, from Lilburn, Georgia; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39, from Great Mills, Maryland; and Captain Rebecca M. Lobach from Durham, North Carolina.
Federal investigators are diligently working to reconstruct the sequence of events that led to this devastating collision. While comprehensive investigations can take a year or more to complete, officials expressed hope for a preliminary report within the next 30 days.
The crash was marked as the deadliest aviation accident in the United States since November 12, 2001, when a jetliner collided with a neighborhood in New York City just after takeoff, resulting in the deaths of 260 individuals on board and five others on the ground.
