(NewsNation) — The National Transportation Safety Board said it will give a written update on Tuesday on the status of an investigation into a collision between a passenger plane and an Army helicopter that killed 67 people last week.
The crash happened after a Black Hawk helicopter carrying three soldiers collided with an American Airlines plane that was approaching a landing at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C.
Those on board the plane included members of the U.S. and Russian figure skating communities. Of those on board, 55 have been positively identified so far. Crews began pulling wreckage from the Potomac River on Monday and began work to recover and identify additional victims.
The NTSB said they would not be holding any press briefings until later in the week, in part because investigators need the Black Hawk recovered from the river to proceed. That is expected to happen later in the week.
Crews working to recover the wreckage have had to stop multiple times to deal with the discovery of additional human remains that have been uncovered during the process.
The cause of the crash is under investigation, with officials discouraging speculation even as President Donald Trump publicly blamed diversity, equity and inclusion efforts for the crash despite there being no evidence that DEI played any role.
It’s believed FAA staffing in the air traffic control tower was lower than ideal, and there is conflicting information about the helicopter’s altitude before the crash. The crew did have night-vision goggles on board, but it is not known if they were wearing them at the time.
Questions have also been raised about an increase in traffic into Reagan Airport even as the FAA has struggled with a shortage of air traffic controllers. There have also been questions about why a helicopter was being allowed to operate in such close proximity to passenger planes.
The FAA instituted temporary airspace restrictions around the airport following the crash. It is not clear how long they will remain in place.
