Black boxes found as officials examine staffing shortage in DC plane crash

The black boxes for a commercial flight that crashed into a military helicopter in Washington DC have been located as questions mount about staffing and other close calls at the airport where the plane was landing.

Normally two people manage air traffic control for helicopters and airplanes flying in the area – one of the most controlled airspaces in the world – but only one person was on duty at the Regan Washington National Airport on Wednesday at the time of the crash, according to sources cited by the BBC’s US partner CBS News.

Officials said they are still investigating the cause of the incident that is suspected to have killed all 67 people aboard the two aircraft.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said a preliminary report will be issued in 30 days.

The flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder, known as the black boxes, can help offer clues to investigators about what may have gone wrong on the flight.

The boxes will be transported to the NTSB lab, nearby the site of the crash, and analysed, according to CBS.

The air traffic control staffing numbers, first reported by the New York Times, was noted as “not normal”, according to a preliminary Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) report.

Divers spent most of Thursday swimming through the icy waters of the Potomac River, searching for the remaining bodies of victims.

The search was suspended on Thursday evening, due to dangerous conditions.

There were 64 passengers aboard the American Airlines flight that collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter that was on a training mission flight. Three soldiers were on board.

No one is suspected to have survived.

DC Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said on earlier on Thursday that teams had so far recovered 27 bodies from the plane, and one from the helicopter.

At a White House briefing on Thursday, President Donald Trump began with a moment of silence and a prayer for victims.

He said “we can only begin to imagine the agony that you’re all feeling”, adding, “our hearts our shattered alongside yours”.

Trump then speculated on the cause of the collision, pointing without proof that perhaps lower hiring standards for air traffic controllers in the Federal Aviation Administration during previous administrations run by Democrats may have been a factor.

Later on Thursday, he signed a memorandum to end diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices in the aviation sector. Broadly, DEI policies are designed to make people of various backgrounds – including socio-economic class, race, gender and physical ability – feel supported, welcomed and safe.

Trump also signed an executive order to appoint a new head of the FAA.

The fatal incident happened at about 21:00 local time (02:00 GMT) on Wednesday, when a PSA Airlines jet operating as American Airlines 5342 collided mid-air with a US Army helicopter as it approached Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Both aircraft careened into the Potomac River. The passenger plane broke into multiple pieces and sunk several feet into the water, while the helicopter ended up upside down in the river.

The plane, a Bombardier CRJ700, departed from Wichita, Kansas, and was carrying dozens of passengers, including a pair of 16-year-old skaters, their mothers, and two Russian coaches.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted in Russia media saying: “There were other of our fellow citizens on board. It’s bad news today from Washington.

“We are sorry and send our condolences to families and friends.”

The helicopter was a Sikorsky H-60 that took off from Fort Belvoir in Virginia with three soldiers on board, and belonged to B Company, 12th Aviation Battalion.

Speaking on Wednesday night, newly installed secretary of defence Pete Hegseth said: “It’s a tragedy, a horrible loss of life for those 64 souls on that civilian airliner, and of course the three soldiers in that Black Hawk [helicopter].”