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Officials have mentioned ‘all main items’ of the American Airlines airplane and Black Hawk helicopter that collided in Washington, DC, have been recovered and can now be examined
08:54, 09 Feb 2025Updated 08:54, 09 Feb 2025
Safety officers confirmed the items had been recovered(Image: AP)
“All major pieces” of the American Airlines plane and Black Hawk helicopter that collided in mid-air in Washington DC have been recovered.
Safety officials confirmed the development following the crash on January 29 that left 67 people dead and both aircrafts in the Potomac River. The bodies of the 67 have all been recovered, along with the black boxes from both the helicopter and airliner.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) mentioned lasers had been used to scan the underside of the Potomac River early on Saturday. A airplane operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and outfitted with laser scanning expertise flew at low altitudes over the crash web site. The lasers are used to penetrate the river’s floor and map the riverbed.
Lasers had been used to scan the underside of the Potomac River(Image: Getty Images)
The recovered parts will now be examined for any markings that could reveal the angle of the collision, reports Mirror.
“Investigators might be in search of witness marks on the plane that would present clues to the angle of collision,” the NTSB mentioned.
Crews at the moment are anticipated to recuperate smaller items of particles with work to proceed over the following week.
Salvage crews pull up part of the Black Hawk (Image: AP)
President Donald Trump had blamed diversity hiring programmes for the crash in the immediate aftermath, but later blamed an “obsolete” computer system used by US air traffic controllers and said it would be replaced.
“It’s amazing that it happened,” Trump said during a speech at the national prayer breakfast at the US Capitol.
“And I think that’s going to be used for good. I think what is going to happen is we’re all going to sit down and do a great computerised system for our control towers. Brand new – not pieced together, obsolete.”
An American Airlines flight prepares to take off as items of American Airlines flight 5342 recovered from the Potomac River are delivered to shore(Image: Getty Images)
Trump said the US spent billions of dollars trying to “renovate an old, broken system” instead of investing in a new one.
Federal officials have been raising concerns about an overtaxed and understaffed air traffic control system for years, especially after a series of close calls between planes at US airports.
Among the explanations they’ve cited for staffing shortages are uncompetitive pay, lengthy shifts, intensive coaching and obligatory retirements.
Trump has known as for a brand new air visitors management system(Image: Getty Images)
Trump said that if the nation had a newer system, alarms would have sounded when the Black Hawk helicopter, which was on a training exercise, reached the same altitude as the plane.
But an FAA report after the crash said that the controller did get an alert that the plane and helicopter were converging when they were still more than a mile apart.
The controller responded by asking the helicopter if it had the airplane in sight and directed the helicopter to move behind the airplane. The helicopter responded that it did have the airplane in sight.
An FAA report after the crash mentioned that the controller did get an alert that the airplane and helicopter had been converging (Image: AP)
NTSB officials told members of Congress that the helicopter’s advanced surveillance technology, which transmits aircraft location and other data to air traffic control and other aircraft, was turned off, Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz said on Thursday.
The crash, which involved an American Airlines flight inbound from Wichita, Kansas, was the deadliest air disaster in the US since November 2001 when a jet slammed into a New York City neighbourhood just after take off killing all 260 people on board and five on the ground.
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