41 bodies have been recovered so far from Washington’s Potomac River, with officials saying there are no survivors.
The air traffic control tower was understaffed when the passenger plane and military helicopter collided, killing 67 people.
US investigators insisted Friday they will not bow to outside pressure as they search for bodies and the remaining black box after the fatal Washington air collision, as President Donald Trump doubled down on political point scoring.
Twenty-six bodies remain lost in the icy Potomac River where a regional passengerjet and a military Black Hawk helicopter fell after colliding in a fireball on Thursday.
A Coast Guard handout shows the helicopter wreckage in the Potomac River. Photo / Getty Images
Rescuers have scoured the murky waters day and night, and have now recovered 41 bodies.
They were also looking for the helicopter’s black box after retrieving the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the Bombardier airliner operated by an American Airlines subsidiary.
The gruesome physical search is running parallel with a complex technical analysis of what went wrong.
The aeroplane was coming in to land at Reagan National Airport – just a few kilometres from the White House – when it collided with an Army helicopter on a training mission.
The wreckage of the passenger aircraft is shown with the Reagan National Airport in the background. Photo / Getty Images
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) member Todd Inman said a preliminary report should be compiled in 30 days but “the overall investigation will probably take a year”.
“It has to be accurate,” he told CNN. “We’re not going to put something out quick just so we can end some speculation.”
Inman’s caution was in pointed contrast to Trump’s loud and politicised commentary ever since the first moments after the plane – on a routine flight from Wichita, Kansas, with 64 people aboard – slammed into the Black Hawk, carrying three.
With assistance from regional and federal partners, our response teams remain focused on recovery efforts in the Potomac River.
At 2:30PM today, we will update the public during a news conference. It will be streamed live on https://t.co/ipJwtS2vSx.
Trump was at it again Friday, posting on his Truth Social platform: “The Blackhawk helicopter was flying too high, by a lot. It was far above the 200 foot [60m] limit. That’s not really too complicated to understand, is it???”
This followed a torrent of posts and a press conference on Thursday where the Republican pinned the blame for the crash on his Democratic predecessors Joe Biden and Barack Obama, claiming without evidence they had hired the wrong people because of anti-racism and other non-discrimination initiatives known as DEI.
Emergency response units assess the aeroplane wreckage in the Potomac River. Photo / Getty Images
“They actually came out with a directive: ‘too white’. And we want the people that are competent,” Trump said.
Online discussions buzzed with conspiracy theories fed by Trump’s anti-DEI crusade.
Aviation experts, meanwhile, homed in on whether the helicopter crew were able to see through military night-vision goggles and whether the Reagan National control tower was understaffed.
According to a New York Times report, one controller, rather than the usual two, was handling plane and helicopter traffic at the time.
Just 24 hours before the collision, another plane coming in to land at the airport had to make a second approach after a helicopter appeared near its flight path, the Washington Post and CNN reported, citing an audio recording from air traffic control.
‘Speculation’
Inman said the investigation would resist political pressure.
“Yes, absolutely,” he told CNN. “There’s a lot of people that have speculation and want to be heard in that regard. We understand that, but our job is to find, ultimately, what caused this and prevent it in the future.”
Supposed official ATC radar playback of the tragic American Airlines crash at DCA.
It looks like the Blackhawk flew across the path of AA 5342 as it made its turn for final approach, which could mean a blind spot collision. pic.twitter.com/9rYusGT95O
The head of the Air Line Pilots Association likewise pleaded for official investigators to be allowed to do their work.
“A lot of details and speculation will come out in response to this tragedy, but we must remember to let the investigation run its course,” Captain Jason Ambrosi said in a statement.
The collision was the first major crash in the United States since 2009.
Among those on the aeroplane were several US skaters and coaches, US Figure Skating said. Officials in Moscow also confirmed the presence of Russian couple Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who won the 1994 world pairs title.
Two Chinese citizens were also among the victims of the crash, state news agency Xinhua reported, citing the Chinese embassy.
A Filipino police officer was also on board, Philippine police said.
