ARLINGTON, Va. — Households of victims of the deadliest U.S. air catastrophe in a virtually in 25 years visited the crash website Sunday simply outdoors Washington, D.C.
Dozens of individuals walked alongside the banks of the Potomac River close to Ronald Reagan Washington Nationwide Airport, near the place an American Airways jet and an Military Black Hawk helicopter collided Wednesday, killing all 67 aboard.
They arrived in buses with a police escort, memorializing family members as federal investigators work to piece collectively the occasions that led to the crash and restoration crews had been set to tug extra wreckage from the chilly water.
“What was happening inside the towers? Were they understaffed? … The position of the Black Hawk, the elevation of the Black Hawk, were the pilots of the Black Hawk wearing night vision goggles?” Duffy requested on CNN.
The American Airways flight, with 64 individuals on board, was making ready to land from Wichita, Kan. The Military Black Hawk helicopter was on a coaching mission and had three troopers on board. Each plane plunged to the Potomac River after colliding.
The airplane’s passengers included skaters coming back from the 2025 U.S. Determine Skating Championships in Wichita, Kan., and a bunch of hunters coming back from a guided journey.
Military Workers Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara, 28, of Lilburn, Ga.; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39, of Nice Mills, Md.; and Capt. Rebecca M. Lobach of Durham, N.C., had been killed within the helicopter.
The Nationwide Transportation Security Board mentioned Saturday that preliminary information confirmed conflicting readings concerning the altitudes of the airliner and the Military helicopter.
Investigators additionally mentioned that a few second earlier than affect, the jet’s flight recorder confirmed a change in its pitch. However they didn’t say whether or not that change in angle meant that pilots had been attempting to carry out an evasive maneuver to keep away from the crash.
Knowledge from the jet’s flight recorder confirmed its altitude as 325 toes, plus or minus 25 toes, when the crash occurred Wednesday evening, NTSB officers informed reporters. Knowledge within the management tower, although, confirmed the Black Hawk at 200 toes, the utmost allowed altitude for helicopters within the space.
The discrepancy has but to be defined.
Investigators mentioned they hoped to reconcile the distinction with information from the helicopter’s black field, which is taking extra time to retrieve as a result of it turned waterlogged after the Black Hawk plunged into the Potomac. Additionally they mentioned they plan to refine the tower information, which could be much less dependable.
“That’s what our job is, to figure that out,” NTSB member Todd Inman mentioned.
Investigator in cost Brice Banning mentioned the jet’s cockpit voice recorder captured sound moments earlier than the crash.
“The crew had a verbal reaction,” Banning mentioned, and the flight information recorder confirmed “the airplane beginning to increase its pitch. Sounds of impact were audible about one second later, followed by the end of the recording.”
Full NTSB investigations sometimes take not less than a yr, although investigators hope to have a preliminary report inside 30 days.
Inman mentioned he spent hours assembly with victims’ households for the reason that crash. They’re struggling, he mentioned.
“Some wanted to give us hugs. Some are just mad and angry,” Inman mentioned. “They are just all hurt. And they still want answers, and we want to give them answers.”
The stays of 42 individuals had been pulled from the river as of Saturday afternoon, together with 38 which were positively recognized, officers mentioned. They anticipate to recuperate the entire stays, although the airplane’s fuselage will in all probability need to be pulled from the water to get the remainder.
Wednesday’s crash was the deadliest within the U.S. since Nov. 12, 2001, when a jet slammed right into a residential neighborhood within the New York Metropolis borough of Queens, simply after takeoff from Kennedy Airport. The crash killed all 260 individuals on board and 5 individuals on the bottom.