ARLINGTON, Va. — Authorities announced on 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 flight and an Army helicopter near Washington, D.C. At this time, all but one of the victims have been identified.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is currently analyzing new data that suggests the helicopter may have been flying above its designated altitude of 200 feet (61 meters). The air traffic control system at the airport recorded the helicopter at 300 feet (91 meters), but this number may have been rounded to the nearest hundred feet, officials indicated. Further information is required from the submerged Black Hawk helicopter to confirm this data.
The flight recorder from the jet indicated that it was flying at an altitude of 325 feet (99 meters), with a margin of error of 25 feet (7.6 meters). Earlier in the day, recovery teams, battling difficult water conditions, managed to retrieve significant portions of the airplane from the Potomac River, including the right wing, the fuselage, and sections of the cockpit and tail.
In a joint statement, city and federal officials involved in the recovery effort expressed their condolences to the families of the victims, stating, “Our hearts are with the victims’ families as they navigate this tragic loss.” They are also working alongside various teams, including those from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Navy dive teams.
The chief medical examiner is tasked with the identification of the last set of remains yet to be confirmed. The collision transpired last Wednesday evening as the aircraft approached Ronald Reagan National Airport, resulting in the deaths of all individuals aboard both the plane and the helicopter.
Authorities had been optimistic about recovering all remains from the incident, and their focus is now shifting towards the retrieval of the jet, with hopes to recover the helicopter later this week. Salvage crews successfully retrieved one of the two engines from the river on Monday, along with sizeable sections of the plane’s exterior, commented Col. Francis B. Pera from the Army Corps of Engineers.
Onboard the American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas, were 60 passengers and four crew members, including figure skaters returning from the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. The Black Hawk helicopter was on a training mission, with three Army personnel onboard: Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara, 28, from Lilburn, Georgia; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39, from Great Mills, Maryland; and Capt. Rebecca M. Lobach from Durham, North Carolina.
Federal investigators are working diligently to reconstruct the sequence of events leading up to the collision. While comprehensive investigations can extend over a year, they anticipate releasing a preliminary report within the next 30 days. The recent incident has been recorded as the most fatal aviation disaster in the United States since November 12, 2001, when a jet crashed into a neighborhood in New York City shortly after takeoff, resulting in the deaths of all 260 individuals on board, along with five individuals on the ground.
