Nationwide Transportation Security Board says it’s going to ‘go away no stone unturned’ in probe of midair collision.
Investigators in america have situated the black containers from the American Airways jet that crashed right into a US Military helicopter close to Washington, DC, killing all 67 individuals on board.
The Nationwide Transportation Security Board (NTSB) on Friday mentioned it recovered the flight information and cockpit voice recorders from the Bombardier CRJ700 jet that collided with a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter over Ronald Reagan Washington Nationwide Airport.
“The recorders are on the NTSB labs for analysis,” the company mentioned in a publish on X.
NTSB Chairman Jennifer Homendy earlier advised reporters that the company would “go away no stone unturned” in its investigation into the accident, the primary lethal crash involving a US industrial airliner in additional than 15 years.
“We’re going to conduct a radical investigation of this complete tragedy, wanting on the info,” Homendy mentioned.
The announcement comes after US President Donald Trump drew ire for claiming that variety, fairness and inclusion insurance policies (DEI) on the Federal Aviation Administration might have been responsible for the catastrophe.
“These will not be individuals who ought to be doing this explicit job,” Trump mentioned at a information convention, with out specifying whom he was referring to.
“We wish good individuals doing this. This can be a main chess recreation on the highest degree.”
Requested by a reporter how he may draw a hyperlink between the crash and DEI insurance policies when investigations weren’t full, Trump mentioned he had “frequent sense”.
Trump’s feedback prompted condemnation from Democrats and incapacity rights teams, together with the Nationwide Incapacity Rights Community, which branded his assertion “irresponsible, disparaging, and incorrect”.
Pete Buttigieg, who served as transportation secretary below former US President Joe Biden, referred to as the feedback “despicable”.
“As households grieve, Trump ought to be main, not mendacity. We put security first, drove down shut calls, grew Air Site visitors Management, and had zero industrial airline crash fatalities out of hundreds of thousands of flights on our watch,” Buttigieg mentioned on X.
Earlier than the scheduled touchdown of American Airways plane Flight 5342 at Ronald Reagan Washington Nationwide Airport on Wednesday, air site visitors controllers requested the pilots if they might land on Runway 33, and flight monitoring websites confirmed that they adjusted their flight path to satisfy the request.
Lower than 30 seconds earlier than the midair collision, an air site visitors controller requested the crew of the military helicopter if it may see the approaching airplane.
The crash was the primary lethal incident involving a US industrial airline since 2009 when Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashed right into a home close to Buffalo, New York, killing all 49 individuals on board and one particular person on the bottom.
Authorities have to this point recovered about 40 our bodies from the Potomac River.
Whereas officers haven’t launched a full listing of the victims, they embody two former world champion determine skaters, two Chinese language nationals, a gaggle of mates who had been on a duck-hunting journey, and the crews of the 2 plane.
Reagan Nationwide, situated in Arlington, Virginia, is the closest airport to Washington, DC, located lower than 8km (5 miles) from the US capital.
The airport is common with many travellers due to its proximity to Washington, DC, in contrast with the bigger Dulles Worldwide Airport, which is about 37km (23 miles) additional away.
