Restoration groups returned to the frigid Potomac River on Friday searching for a number of victims and extra clues behind the deadliest U.S. air crash in over 20 years.

The midair collision between an American Airways airplane and an Military Black Hawk helicopter killed all 67 individuals aboard each plane on Wednesday night time close to Ronald Reagan Washington Nationwide Airport.

In a press convention Friday afternoon, D.C. Hearth and EMS Chief John Donnelly mentioned 41 our bodies had been recovered from the Potomac River as of Thursday night time.

When requested when all of the victims could be recognized, Donnelly replied, “We’re working as quick as we will. I am not going to have the ability to give a timeline on that, as there are a variety of unknowns.”

He added that further Coast Guard personnel and salvage gear will arrive on Saturday to bolster ongoing search and restoration efforts.

Investigators have additionally recovered the cockpit voice and flight knowledge from the passenger jet, in addition to the recording gadget from the helicopter — all of which shall be key in piecing collectively the moments main as much as the crash.

Throughout a Friday afternoon briefing, J. Todd Inman, a member of the Nationwide Transportation Security Board, mentioned the company is assured it might retrieve knowledge from the recording units in spite of everything had been present in good situation. The jet’s cockpit voice recorder had some “water intrusion,” although Inman mentioned that is widespread.

In the meantime, Reagan Nationwide Airport continues to face disruptions following the crash. On Friday, two of the three runways remained closed, which led to over 100 flight cancellations, based on Terry Liercke, the airport’s vice chairman and supervisor. Liercke mentioned the runaways are anticipated to stay closed for presumably one other week.

Federal authorities additionally restricted helicopter flights close to Reagan Nationwide Airport on Friday, the U.S. Division of Transportation mentioned. The restriction exempts helicopters getting into the airspace for “lifesaving medical assist, lively legislation enforcement, lively air protection, or presidential transport helicopter missions that should function on this space.”

Timeline

On Wednesday night time, an American Airways jet carrying 60 passengers and 4 crew members was en path to Reagan Nationwide Airport from Wichita, Kan.

That very same night, a U.S. Military Black Hawk helicopter carrying three “pretty skilled” crew members was collaborating in a required, annual coaching train, based on Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth. The unit concerned within the crash — Bravo Firm, twelfth Aviation Battalion — was flying out of Fort Belvoir in Virginia.

Then, shortly earlier than 9 p.m. EST, the 2 plane crashed in a low-altitude collision because the industrial airplane approached an airport runway.

Each plane plunged into the 8-feet-deep waters of the Potomac River, the place temperatures had been hovered round 36 levels in a single day — complicating search and rescue operations, D.C. Hearth Chief John Donnelly mentioned.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy mentioned the American Airways jet was discovered “inverted” and in “three totally different sections” after the collision.

The NTSB mentioned it’s going to carry out a radical and correct investigation of the incident and supply a preliminary report within the subsequent 30 days.

“We won’t be figuring out the possible reason for the accident whereas we’re right here on scene, nor will we speculate about what could have triggered this accident,” Inman, the NTSB member, mentioned Thursday.

Passengers and crew members have begun being recognized

All 67 passengers, crew members and Military service members are believed to have died.

The Military recognized two of the three crew members on the Black Hawk helicopter as Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Eaves, 39, of Nice Mills, Md., and Employees Sgt. Ryan O’Hara, 28, of Liburn, Ga. The Military doesn’t plan to launch the identify of the third crew member on the request of her household, a U.S. army official instructed NPR.

On the American Airways flight, greater than a dozen of the passengers had been younger determine skaters, coaches or relations, based on the Skating Membership of Boston, which despatched a number of of its group members to Wichita for the 2025 U.S. Determine Skating Championship.

Russian World Champion determine skaters Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova had been additionally aboard.

Member station KMUW reported {that a} 30-year-old civil rights legal professional, Kiah Duggins, was additionally returning residence to Washington, D.C., after visiting her mom in Wichita who had undergone a surgical process.

“We’re coming to phrases with the grief related to the lack of our lovely and achieved firstborn,” Kiah Duggins’ father, Maurice Duggins, instructed KMUW in an announcement.

Others onboard included Police Col. Pergentino Malabed from the Philippines, who was on official journey, the Philippine Nationwide Police mentioned in an announcement. Two Chinese language nationals had been additionally among the many passengers, based on China’s Overseas Ministry.

President Trump questions if DEI insurance policies are responsible

Within the speedy aftermath of the crash, President Trump mentioned he had been briefed on the incident and provided his condolences.

The following day, he hypothesized in remarks to the press with out providing proof that defective night time imaginative and prescient goggles or range, fairness and inclusion insurance policies may have performed an element within the collision.

A reporter requested how a conclusion in regards to the relevance of DEI might be reached so early on within the investigation, to which the president mentioned: “As a result of I’ve widespread sense, OK? And sadly, lots of people do not. We would like good individuals doing this.”

Trump additionally mentioned People shouldn’t be afraid to fly.

“That is one thing that — it has been a few years since one thing like this has occurred, and the collision is simply one thing that we do not count on it to occur ever once more,” he mentioned.

It is the deadliest crash since November 2001, when a passenger jet, additionally an American Airways flight, crashed right into a neighborhood in Queens, N.Y, killing 265 individuals. The final main industrial airplane accident involving a U.S. passenger airplane was in 2009 when a Colgan Air flight crashed close to Buffalo, N.Y., killing 50 individuals.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser mentioned, “Our hearts and our prayers exit to the entire households and family members impacted by this horrific collision. I’m very happy with our first responders in DC and in your entire area who proceed restoration efforts.”