Officers in Washington, D.C., recognized 55 our bodies pulled from the Potomac River throughout a strenuous multi-day restoration operation following the midair collision between a industrial aircraft and a Black Hawk helicopter final week.
D.C. Fireplace and EMS Chief John Donnelly, Sr. informed reporters on Sunday that the stays of 55 of the 67 victims of the plane collision have been recognized. The one damage that Donnelly reported was a primary responder who developed hypothermia whereas looking within the freezing chilly water, however the particular person later recovered.
Officers additionally stated they plan to begin lifting the particles out of the Potomac River on Monday. Col. Francis Pera from the U.S. Military Corp of Engineers stated he anticipates “a successful lift” on Monday morning, later including that they’ll cowl the wreckage with a tent to guard any human stays.
“We do have a process where we will be watching the lift as it happens,” Pera defined. “And then if there are remains in there, that will not move while we’re recovering the wreckage. We will bring that wreckage to the surface of the barge. Our process [is] to immediately tent the barge to make sure that we have full discretion.”
HARROWING VIDEO FROM MILITARY BASE SHOWS NEW ANGLE OF MIDAIR CRASH CATASTROPHE
Emergency automobiles and restoration operations are seen close to the mouth of the Anacostia River on the Potomac River close to Ronald Reagan Washington Nationwide Airport, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, in Washington. (AP Picture/Carolyn Kaster)
Officers have been on the particles web site within the river since shortly after the collision between a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter and a Bombardier CRJ700 airliner working underneath PSA Airways, a subsidiary of American Airways.
The aircraft’s flight information recorder indicated that it was struck at 325 toes by the helicopter on Wednesday evening, and that previous to influence, there was a change within the plane’s pitch, in line with preliminary data launched on Saturday.
“Currently, the CRJ (plane) based on the data recorder at the time of impact was 325 feet, plus or minus 25 feet,” Nationwide Transportation Security Board (NTSB) member Todd Inman stated at a Saturday information convention. “And for those who follow this closely, that is a corrected altitude.”
“I can tell you at one point, very close to the impact, there was a slight change in pitch, an increase in pitch,” he added later, when requested whether or not the aircraft pulled up.
Whereas air site visitors management information had the aircraft’s altitude at 200 toes at influence, Inman stated they “have not finalized that and need to get more granularity to it,” and that information from the Black Hawk’s recorder can be wanted to reply for the obvious 100-foot distinction in altitude.
VICTIMS IDENTIFIED IN DC PLANE CRASH INVOLVING AMERICAN AIRLINES JET AND MILITARY HELICOPTER
Crews retrieve the wreckage of American Airways flight 5342 from the Potomac River on Jan. 30, 2025. (Leigh Inexperienced for Fox Information Digital)
“Whenever we have the data from the recorder, we will be able to give you a more specific answer,” Inman stated.
Jake Crockett, a firefighter and diver with the Scuba Rescue Group of Chesterfield Fireplace & EMS, informed Fox Information Digital final week that the restoration operation is “incredibly unusual.”
“We’re trained and always ready to answer the call…when the dive call comes in, but that’s typically involving one victim. And, in rare occasions, a couple of victims,” Crockett defined.
“But something of this magnitude, you know, having 67 people to account for, along with two aircraft and all the debris is just it’s incredibly out of the ordinary. It’s something that, no doubt, none of them nor myself could have predicted.”
The firefighter additionally famous that the Potomac River poses challenges associated to temperature and water visibility.
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A aircraft flies close to Ronald Reagan Washington Nationwide Airport within the aftermath of the collision of American Eagle flight 5342 and a Black Hawk helicopter that crashed into the Potomac River, in Arlington, Virginia, on Jan. 30, 2025. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)
“It’s going to be zero visibility or close to zero is that they’ll be diving in, and so looking for small parts of an aircraft in that kind of visibility is going to be extremely challenging,” Crockett defined. “The waters here and the lakes and ponds and rivers…when you go in, it’s just dark.”
Fox Information Digital’s Mollie Markowitz contributed to this report.
