Washington DC Plane Crash: Authorities Recover 41 Bodies After Mid-air Collision

Authorities have recovered 41 bodies after an airplane crash in Washington DC.

Sixty-seven people were killed when an American Airlines jet and a military helicopter clashed mid-air on Wednesday night. So far, 28 bodies have been recognized.

Both aircraft crashed into the Potomac River after the crash. Some 300 personnel were sent to the scene, but the rescue soon became a healing mission as officials said there were no survivors.

Washington crash: referall.us Follow the current updates

Federal detectives have recovered the black boxes from the passenger jet, while authorities were still browsing for similar devices in the helicopter.

Meanwhile, amidst questions over how well the airport’s control tower was staffed on the night of the crash, it’s been verified that an air traffic control manager had let a controller leave their shift early.

The information, first reported by the New york city Times, has been validated to Sky News’ US partner NBC News by a source familiar with the examination.

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It implies a single controller was handling both plane and helicopter traffic in the location when the two airplane clashed.

It is allowed – however not ideal – for one controller to do both jobs, NBC News reported.

The American Airlines jet was bring 60 guests and four team when it crashed with the Black Hawk helicopter, adremcareers.com carrying 3 soldiers, shortly before 9pm regional time on Wednesday.

Flight 5342 was preparing to arrive at runway 33 at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport when it hit the helicopter in one of the most securely controlled airspaces in the world.

‘Em ergency vehicles sped past me’

A male whose wife was on the flight has remembered how he saw emergency services “speeding past” as he was waiting at the airport to select her up.

Hamaad Raza told NBC News his other half of 2 years, Asra, had “texted me [and] stated, ‘We’re landing in 20 minutes'”.

” I was waiting and I began seeing a bunch of EMS cars speeding past me … way too numerous, [more] than regular and my texts weren’t going through.”

Trump makes unproven diversity drive claim

Donald Trump has actually connected a variety drive at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) under previous governments to the crash.

It has considering that been stated there is no evidence to support the US president’s claim.

Speaking at the White House on Thursday, Mr Trump recommended the diversity efforts had actually made air travel less safe.

At a White House press briefing on Friday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Mr Trump had signed a memorandum directing an immediate assessment of FAA hiring decisions made throughout the previous administration.

While Mr Trump’s claim appears to have actually been unmasked, there are questions over staffing at Reagan Washington National Airport.

NBC News reported staffing in the air traffic control tower was “not typical”, according to a preliminary FAA report.

The tower usually has a controller who focuses specifically on helicopter traffic – but at the time of the crash, a source stated, one controller was supervising both plane and helicopter activity.

The FAA, which controls air traffic control along with certification of workers and aircraft, somalibidders.com lacks an irreversible administrator. Its previous boss Michael Whitaker stepped down on 20 January – the day of Mr Trump’s inauguration.

Follow Trump 100 on your podcast app Mr Trump has actually appointed an acting administrator, Chris Rocheleau, in the wake of the crash.

Mr Whitaker had clashed with Mr Trump’s confidante Elon Musk over the SpaceX rocket launches during his period at the FAA.

Since starting as head of the administration in October 2023, he was also required to respond to Boeing’s security and quality issues, and worked to work with more air traffic controllers due to a scarcity of staff.

Learn more:.
Washington DC airplane crash: What we understand up until now.
Air traffic control service heard diverting planes moments after collision

At his rundown, Mr Trump blamed former president Joe Biden for decreasing requirements for air traffic controllers.

” We have to have our smartest individuals,” he said. “They need to be naturally skilled geniuses.”

Mr Trump added: “The FAA is actively hiring employees who suffer severe intellectual specials needs, psychiatric problems, and other psychological and physical conditions under a diversity and addition hiring initiative defined on the company’s site.”

The American Association of People with Disabilities responded to these claims, saying in a statement on X: “FAA employees with disabilities did not cause [the] awful airplane crash.

” The into the crash is still continuous. It is extremely unsuitable for the president to use this disaster to push an anti-diversity hiring agenda. Doing so makes all Americans less safe.”

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Mr Trump said after being sworn in recently, he signed an executive order which “restored the greatest standards of air traffic controllers”.

At a later briefing, he was asked if gender or race contributed. He addressed: “It might have, I don’t understand.