ARLINGTON, Va. — Recovery teams continued their efforts on Tuesday to retrieve the cockpit and the remains of the 67 individuals who perished in the recent midair collision involving a passenger aircraft and an Army helicopter close to Washington, D.C.
The progress of their operations is affected by the wind and tidal conditions of the Potomac River, where the accident occurred last Wednesday night as the American Airlines flight approached Ronald Reagan National Airport for landing. All occupants of both airborne vehicles were casualties of the tragedy.
By midday on Tuesday, crews were engaged in lifting another significant section of the airplane from the water. The National Transportation Safety Board announced that they would not be offering further updates from the recovery site.
So far, authorities have successfully located and identified the remains of 55 out of the 67 victims and expressed optimism about locating the remaining individuals. Their immediate focus is on the recovery of the airplane, planning to address the retrieval of the Black Hawk helicopter later in the week.
Col. Francis B. Pera from the Army Corps of Engineers indicated that on Monday, salvage teams managed to extract one of the twin jet engines from the river, in addition to substantial sections of the plane’s structure. Efforts are ongoing to recover the wing of the aircraft that was en route from Wichita, Kansas.
The American Airlines flight had onboard 60 passengers and four crew members, including figure skaters returning from the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships held in Wichita.
The Black Hawk helicopter was engaged in a training operation. The three members onboard included Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara, aged 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 determine the sequence of events that culminated in the collision. While comprehensive investigations can extend over a year, authorities are aiming to release an initial report within the next 30 days.
This incident marks the most catastrophic aviation disaster in the United States since November 12, 2001, when a jet crashed into a New York City neighborhood shortly after takeoff, resulting in 265 fatalities, including five individuals on the ground.
