ARLINGTON, Va. — On Sunday, families of the victims from the most tragic air disaster in the United States in nearly 25 years gathered at the crash site, located near Washington, D.C. Dozens walked along the Potomac River, close to Reagan National Airport, where an American Airlines aircraft collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter last Wednesday, resulting in the deaths of all 67 individuals on board.
Families arrived via buses accompanied by a police escort to honor their loved ones, while federal investigators began their efforts to understand the sequence of events that led to the tragic accident. Recovery teams were also set to retrieve additional debris from the cold waters of the Potomac. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy expressed the importance of allowing federal aviation investigators the space they need for their inquiry but posed various questions regarding the circumstances surrounding the crash during his appearances on morning television shows.
Duffy queried about the operations within the control towers and whether staffing was adequate. He raised questions on the positioning and altitude of the Black Hawk helicopter, as well as whether the pilots were utilizing night vision goggles at the time of the incident. The American Airlines flight, carrying 64 passengers, was attempting to land after arriving from Wichita, Kansas, while the Black Hawk was involved in a training assignment with three soldiers aboard. Both aircraft fell into the Potomac following the collision.
Among the passengers on the plane were figure skaters returning from the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships and a group of hunters coming back from a guided expedition. The helicopter was carrying Army personnel, including Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, and Cpt. Rebecca M. Lobach, who all lost their lives in the incident.
Preliminary data shared by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) indicated conflicting altitude reports for the airliner and helicopter. Investigators noted a shift in the plane’s pitch just a second before the crash but have yet to determine if this indicated an attempt at evasive maneuvering by the pilots. The flight recorder data for the jet documented its altitude at approximately 325 feet at the time of the collision, compared to the Black Hawk’s altimeter reading of 200 feet—its maximum permitted altitude in that airspace.
As investigators work to clarify the discrepancy, they are aiming to recover data from the helicopter’s black box, which is currently waterlogged, complicating retrieval efforts. Additionally, they plan to refine the control tower data to ensure accuracy. NTSB member Todd Inman remarked on the complexity of the investigation, clarifying that the goal of the team is to resolve these contradictions and provide answers to concerned families.
The cockpit voice recorder of the jet captured sounds just prior to the crash, indicating the crew’s emotional response to the impending impact. According to investigators, the recording featured audible sounds of collision about one second afterward, concluding the audio capture. NTSB investigations typically take a year to complete, but officials expect to release a preliminary report within a month.
Inman emphasized that he had spent considerable time with the families affected by the tragedy. The emotional toll was evident, as family members shared their grief, with some expressing anger and anguish, all while seeking clarity on the situation. As of Saturday afternoon, recovery efforts had resulted in the retrieval of 42 remains from the river, with 38 positively identified. Officials anticipate recovering all remains, though the plane’s fuselage will need to be extracted for the complete recovery.
More than 300 responders participated in the ongoing recovery operations, with two Navy salvage barges drafted into the effort to manage heavy wreckage. Duffy mentioned on Fox News Sunday that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was investigating staffing conditions in the Reagan Airport control tower. There were five controllers on duty during the incident, and typically, responsibilities for helicopter and airplane traffic are split between two individuals. However, the airport policy allows for a consolidation of these duties when traffic decreases, which occurred earlier than usual during the crash Wednesday.
Long-standing staffing shortages in air traffic control have led to persistent concerns, according to Duffy, who pledged that the administration would focus on addressing these problems with capable personnel. The nation was still in mourning when another calamity struck—a tragic air ambulance crash in Philadelphia on Friday claimed the lives of all six on board, including a child returning home from medical treatment.
In the aftermath of the accident, the FAA imposed stricter regulations on helicopter traffic around Reagan National Airport, following assertions from Trump that the helicopter had been operating above permissible heights. Echoing a similar disaster, Wednesday’s accident marked the deadliest air disaster in the U.S. since November 12, 2001, when an aircraft crashed into a residential area in Queens, New York, resulting in the death of all 260 passengers aboard, as well as five individuals on the ground.
Although air travel is widely acknowledged as safe, the chaotic airspace around Reagan National poses challenges even for seasoned pilots, further complicating air traffic management and safety protocols.
