ARLINGTON, Virginia, USA (AP) — The remains of the 67 victims of last week’s mid-air collision between an American Airlines plane and an Army helicopter, near the U.S. capital, have now been recovered, authorities reported on Tuesday. Of them, only one body remains unidentified.
Meanwhile, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in the United States reported that it is analyzing new data that could place the helicopter above its maximum flight altitude of 200 feet (61 meters). The airport's air traffic control display, which relies on radar sensors and other data, positioned it at 300 feet (91 meters), the agency said. However, the figure may have been rounded to the nearest 100 feet, according to authorities.
The researchers said they need to obtain more information about the Black Hawk, which remains submerged, to corroborate the data.
The aircraft's flight recorder indicated an altitude of 325 feet (99 meters), with a margin of error of 25 feet (7.6 meters).
How did the plane crash in Washington happen?
Hours earlier, recovery teams working in choppy waters retrieved from the Potomac River several large fragments of the plane, including the right wing, the central fuselage, parts of the front cabin, the cockpit, the tail cone, and the rudder.
"Our hearts are with the families of the victims as they face this tragic loss," officials said in a joint statement from the city and federal agencies involved in the search and recovery, including the US Army Corps of Engineers, Navy dive teams, and Washington police and fire teams.
The forensic medical service is already working to identify the latest set of remains, officials indicated.
The collision occurred on Wednesday night when the plane was about to land at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, claiming the lives of all the people on board both aircraft.
Authorities said from the beginning that they planned to recover the remains of all the victims, and now they are focusing on the remains of the airplane and, later this week, on those of the helicopter.
On Monday, the recovery teams managed to retrieve one of the plane's two engines from the river, along with huge pieces of the exterior, said Colonel Francis B. Pera of the Army Corps of Engineers.
Sixty passengers and four crew members were aboard the American Airlines flight that departed from Wichita, Kansas, including figure skaters returning from the National Figure Skating Championships.
The Black Hawk was on a training mission. On board were Army Sergeant Ryan Austin O’Hara, 28, from Lilburn, Georgia; Chief Warrant Officer Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39, from Great Mills, Maryland; and Captain Rebecca M. Lobach from Durham, North Carolina.
Federal investigators are working to reconstruct the events that led to the collision. Typically, a full investigation takes at least a year, but they plan to present a preliminary report in 30 days.