Families of victims of the deadliest US air disaster in nearly 25 years visited the crash site just outside Washington DC.
Dozens of people walked along the banks of the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport, close to where 67 people died in a mid-air collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines jet.
Crews have recovered and identified the bodies of 55 victims in the deadly aircraft collision, the officials said. Fire chief John Donnelly said divers still need to find the bodies of 12 victims and are committed to the dignified recovery of remains as they prepare to lift wreckage from the Potomac as early as Monday.
Meanwhile, the US Army has identified the third pilot of the Black Hawk Helicopter as Captain Rebecca M Lobach, 28, from North Carolina.
In a statement, her family said: “We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Rebecca. She was a bright star in all our lives. She was kind, generous, brilliant, funny, ambitious and strong. No one dreamed bigger or worked harder to achieve her goals.”
Key Points
- Officials have recovered, identified 55 victims
- Black Hawk helicopter performing 'doomsday' training at time of collision
- Families visit plane crash site days after disaster
- Third helicopter pilot names as Capt Rebecca M. Lobach
- Data from all three aircraft 'black boxes' being extracted
- Bodies of two soldiers recovered from Black Hawk wreckage
Families visit plane crash site
03:14
,
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Families of victims of the deadliest US air disaster in nearly 25 years visited the crash site on Sunday just outside Washington DC
.Dozens of people walked along the banks of the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport, close to where an American Airlines plane and an army Black Hawk helicopter collided on Wednesday, killing all 67 aboard.
They arrived in buses with a police escort, remembering loved ones as federal investigators worked to piece together the events that led to the crash and recovery crews prepared to pull more wreckage from the chilly water.
Transportation secretary Sean Duffy said he wanted to leave federal aviation investigators space to conduct their inquiry. But he posed a range of questions about the crash while appearing on morning TV news programmes.
"What was happening inside the towers? Were they understaffed/ The position of the Black Hawk, the elevation of the Black Hawk, were the pilots of the Black Hawk wearing night vision goggles?" Mr Duffy asked on CNN.
ICYMI: Olympic champion mourns teenage skaters killed in Washington DC crash
03:00
,
Katie Hawkinson
Officials to start lifting debris today
03:00
,
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
The rescue officials will start lifting debris out of the Potomac River today, Col Francis Pera from the US Army Corp of Engineers, told reporters.
He said he anticipates "a successful lift" this morning.
"We do have a process where we will be watching the lift as it happens," Col Pera said. "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."
For an eight-year-old figure skater, the DC plane crash means the loss of friends and beloved coach
01:00
,
Michelle Del Rey
Sienna Irena Piro needed a figure skating coach to give her a chance.
As a three-year-old, she tried out for several but was told she didn’t have elite talent.
That was until she met Inna Volyanskaya, a coach at the Ashburn Ice House in Ashburn, Virginia who competed for the pre-1991 Soviet Union and achieved international acclaim.
Sienna’s mother, Rachelle Chase Piro, had gotten Volyanskaya to agree to see her daughter through a friend but she was nervous about taking her to the rink. The then-seven-year-old was athletically behind other skaters her age and the coach was already working with several high-profile athletes.
Piro worried her daughter wouldn’t make the cut, she told The Independent in a phone call.
Keep reading:
Trump won't visit Washington DC plane crash site because it's 'the water': 'You want me to go swimming?’
Sunday 2 February 2025 23:00
,
Mike Bedigan
Donald Trump responded sarcastically to questions about whether he would be visiting the site of the deadly crash over the Potomac River in Washington D.C., asking reporters at the White House: “You want me to go swimming?”
The president said on Thursday he would be meeting with some of the families of victims of the tragedy, which occurred at Ronald Reagan Airport Wednesday night. All 67 people involved in the crash are presumed dead, authorities said previously.
When asked about his plans to visit the crash site, he replied: “I have a plan to visit, not the site. Because you tell me, what’s the site? The water? You want me to go swimming?”
Read more:
Families visit site of crash in Washington, D.C.
Sunday 2 February 2025 22:00
,
Katie Hawkinson
Mourners for the victims of the deadly aircraft collision above Washington, D.C. visited the crash site Sunday, ABC News reports.
All 67 people who were on board both aircraft are presumed dead.
"They're all just hurt and they want answers, and we want to give them answers," National Transportation Safety Board member J. Todd Inman said. "It's horrible. No one has to suffer this."
Crews prepare to remove jet from Potomac River on Monday
Sunday 2 February 2025 21:32
,
Katie Hawkinson
Members of the Army Corps of Engineers are preparing to begin removing the American Airlines jet from the Potomac River on Monday, before moving to the Black Hawk helicopter.
“The initial focus is removal of the remnants of the regional jet, which is expected to take three days," the Army Corps of Engineers said in a statement.
Officials have recovered, identified 55 victims
Sunday 2 February 2025 21:31
,
Katie Hawkinson
Crews have recovered and identified 55 of the 67 victims presumed dead in the aircraft collision over Washington D.C., officials said Sunday.
This comes after mourners gathered on the banks of the Potomac River Sunday to honor those killed in the deadly crash.
Air traffic controller 'left work early' before deadly crash as helicopter's flight height comes into question
Sunday 2 February 2025 21:03
,
Rhian Lubin
A supervisor allowed an air traffic controller at Ronald Reagan National Airport to leave early, hours before the passenger plane collided with an Army helicopter in midair, according to reports.
Both aircraft plunged into the icy Potomac River shortly before 9 p.m. Wednesday and all 64 passengers on the American Airlines regional jet, along with three soldiers on the Black Hawk helicopter, are presumed dead.
A single controller was left to handle the air traffic of planes and helicopters flying over the airspace when two people would typically be monitoring both flight paths, sources told NBC.
Read more:
Mapped: How American Airlines plane collided with Black Hawk army helicopter near Washington DC airport
Sunday 2 February 2025 20:00
,
Katie Hawkinson
ICYMI: King Charles pays tribute to victims of Washington DC crash
Sunday 2 February 2025 19:00
,
Katie Hawkinson
King Charles has said he is “profoundly shocked and saddened” after an army Black Hawk helicopter collided with a commercial plane in Washington D.C., killing 67 people.
“Our hearts, and our special thoughts, are with the people of the United States and our deepest sympathy goes to the families and loved ones of all the victims,” Charles said in a statement released by Buckingham Palace on Saturday.
“I would also like to pay a particular tribute to the emergency responders who acted so quickly to this horrendous event.”
Vice President defends Trump's statement linking 'DEI' to D.C. plane crash
Sunday 2 February 2025 18:00
,
Katie Hawkinson
Vice President J.D. Vance defended President Donald Trump’s remarks baselessly linking diversity, equity and inclusion practices in government to the Washington, D.C. aircraft collision.
“The president made very clear that he wasn’t blaming anybody, but he was being very explicit about the fact that DEI policies have led our air traffic controllers to be short-staffed,” Vance told Fox News on Sunday. “That is a scandal. Thankfully, it’s a scandal that the president has stopped.”
All 67 people on both aircraft are believed to be dead, and the cause of the collision is still under investigation.
When asked why he was now blaming efforts to recruit people with disabilities during a White House press conference, Trump replied: “Because I have common sense, okay, and unfortunately, a lot of people don't,” he said.
Vance said it’s important officials “investigate everything” but doubled down on his claims that “DEI policies” may have impacted air traffic control.
“Let’s just say the person at the controls didn’t have enough staffing around him or her because we were turning people away because of DEI reasons,” Vance said.
“There is a very direct connection between the policies of the last administration and short-staffed air traffic controllers,” he added.
ICYMI: New footage captures moment of Washington, D.C. plane crash
Sunday 2 February 2025 17:00
,
Katie Hawkinson
Third crew member of Black Hawk helicopter served as Army aviator, White House Military Social Aide
Sunday 2 February 2025 16:00
,
Katie Hawkinson
Captain Rebecca Lobach, the final person on the Black Hawk helicopter to be identified, served as an aviator and White House Military Social Aide, her family revealed in a statement.
“Rebecca was a warrior and would not hesitate to defend her country in battle,” the statement reads. “But she was as graceful as she was fierce: in addition to her duties as an Army aviator, Rebecca was honored to serve as a White House Military Social Aide, volunteering to support the President and First Lady in hosting countless White House events, including ceremonies awarding the Medal of Honor and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.”
ICYMI: A passenger jet had to abort a landing at Reagan National Airport just 24 hours before fatal crash due to a helicopter
Sunday 2 February 2025 15:00
,
Josh Marcus
A passenger jet had to suddenly abort its landing at Reagan National Airport because of a helicopter in its flight path, just a day before an airliner and a military helicopter catastrophically collided in the same airspace, highlighting the complications of managing helicopter traffic around the busy Washington-area airport.
On Tuesday night, a Republican Airways Flight radioed air traffic controllers at Reagan about an alert they had received about “helicopter traffic below us,” prompting the tower to tell the twin-jet Embraer ERJ 175 jet to “go around,” The Washington Post reports.
Read more:
Investigators recover DC plane crash ‘black boxes.’ What are the devices that help investigators unlock the cause of a disaster?
Sunday 2 February 2025 14:31
,
Tim Hepher
Investigators are working to retrieve the remnants of the two aircraft involved in a crash in Washington DC that killed 67 people and raised questions about air safety.
The black boxes have been recovered from the American Airlines Bombardier CRJ-700 regional jet, which collided with a U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River on Wednesday, killing 67 people.
Here’s what to know about black boxes and how they’ll help investigators understand what led to the crash:
Loved ones of DCA victims worried Philadelphia crash will delay answers
Sunday 2 February 2025 14:00
,
Mike Bedigan
NTSB member Todd Ilman said that the families of the victims of the DCA crash were concerned that the shocking incident in Philadelphia, in which an air ambulance came down in a residential area, would delay the NTSB’s investigation.
Asked about the families on Saturday evening, Ilman said: “I spent several hours with them today.
“There's more, some new there's some that have been there for three days, some that want to give us hugs. Some that are just mad and angry. They're just all hurt, and they still want answers, and we want to give them answers.
He added: “The most devastating thing, I guess, today was, they watched the news last night.
“They know their loved ones. They're thinking, is it going to take longer? Am I going to be able to find my loved one? How will this affect it? I mean, it's horrible, and no one ever should suffer this. So, yeah, it is hard on them. They have a lot of questions.”
Mapped: How American Airlines plane collided with Black Hawk army helicopter
Sunday 2 February 2025 13:30
,
Holly Evans
Third crew member of Black Hawk helicopter identified
Sunday 2 February 2025 13:00
,
Mike Bedigan
The Army has released the name of the third crew member of the Black Hawk helicopter.
Captain Rebecca Lobach, 28, was from Durham, North Carolina.
She was a distinguished military graduate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and commissioned in 2019 as an active-duty aviation officer.
Third helicopter pilot names as Capt Rebecca M. Lobach
Sunday 2 February 2025 12:40
,
Holly Evans
The US Army has identified the third pilot of the Black Hawk Helicopter that collided with an American Airlines jet as Captain Rebecca M. Lobach, 28, from North Carolina.
The Army had initially refused to identify Lobach at the request of her family but the decision to release her name came 'at the request of and in coordination with the family,' according to a statement released by the Army.
In a statement, her family said: “We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Rebecca. She was a bright star in all our lives. She was kind, generous, brilliant, funny, ambitious and strong. No one dreamed bigger or worked harder to achieve her goals.”
NTSB starts Saturday DC conference with remarks on Philadelphia crash
Sunday 2 February 2025 12:00
,
Mike Bedigan
NTSB spokesman Todd Ilman kicked off Saturday evening’s DCA press conference by acknowledging the shocking crash that happened in Philadelphia on Friday night.
“Tonight, we also need to give the condolences to yet another set of individuals due to the Philadelphia crash. Our hearts go out to all of them,” he said.
“Nobody should suffer this much tragedy no matter what time frame in between it.
“Know this, we will find out what happened in both of those accidents. We'll make recommendations, we will attempt to never have to deal with those type of accidents again.”
Flight simulator recreates final moments of Washington DC aircraft crash
Sunday 2 February 2025 11:00
,
Mike Bedigan
Conflicting information from plane's black boxes
Sunday 2 February 2025 10:06
,
Holly Evans
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board have determined the CRJ700 airplane was at 325 feet (91 meters), plus or minus 25 feet, at the time of impact, officials said at a Saturday evening news briefing.
The information was based on data recovered from the jet's flight data recorder - the "black box" that tracks the aircraft's movements, speed and other parameters.
The new detail suggests the Army helicopter was flying above 200 feet (61 meters), the maximum altitude for the route it was using.
Preliminary data indicates the control tower's radar showed the helicopter at 200 feet at the time of the accident, though officials said the information has not been confirmed.
"That's what our job is, to figure that out," NTSB board member Todd Inman told reporters when asked what could explain the discrepancy.
Investigators hopeful of answers after Army helicopter’s ‘black box’ found following deadly DC collision
Sunday 2 February 2025 10:00
,
Mike Bedigan
The so-called “black box” from the Black Hawk helicopter, which collided with a passenger jet in Washington, D.C., has now been recovered, according to the National Transport Safety Board.
Both boxes from the American Airlines aircraft were previously found, and all three devices will now be taken for analysis, NTSB member Todd Inman said Friday, adding that the agency had a “high level of confidence” that information could be extracted from them.
Read more here:
King Charles pays tribute to victims of Washington DC crash
Sunday 2 February 2025 09:23
,
Holly Evans
The King has said he is “profoundly shocked and saddened” after an army Black Hawk helicopter collided with a commercial plane in Washington DC, killing 67 people.
“Our hearts, and our special thoughts, are with the people of the United States and our deepest sympathy goes to the families and loved ones of all the victims,” Charles said in a statement released by Buckingham Palace on Saturday.
“I would also like to pay a particular tribute to the emergency responders who acted so quickly to this horrendous event.”
The King’s message following the air accident in Washington, D.C. pic.twitter.com/UaPvGiIA6b
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) February 1, 2025
Transport Secretary Sean Duffy gives update
Sunday 2 February 2025 09:00
,
Mike Bedigan
My update on the crashes near Reagan National Airport and in Philadelphia: pic.twitter.com/WZgDtcuHJ4
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) February 1, 2025
In pictures: NTSB workers open aircraft black boxes
Sunday 2 February 2025 08:00
,
Mike Bedigan
Key pilot messaging system suffering outage as issues continue for FAA
Sunday 2 February 2025 07:34
,
Holly Evans
A key US pilot messaging system was experiencing a temporary outage, which could lead to flight delays on Sunday, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said late on Saturday.
The Federal Aviation Administration is working to restore the "Notice to Air Mission" or NOTAM system, Duffy said on X.
"There is currently no impact to the National Airspace System because a backup system is in place," Duffy said. "FAA has set up a hotline to communicate with aviation stakeholders and will send notices every 30 minutes with updates on the system's status."
Duffy said the FAA "activated its contingency system to supplement and support preflight briefings and continue flight operations... We are investigating the root cause and we will provide updates."
He said passengers should check with their carriers about the status of flights on Sunday, adding "there may be some residual delays tomorrow morning."
Donald Trump suggests DEI could be behind DEI crash
Sunday 2 February 2025 07:00
,
Mike Bedigan
President Donald Trump previously claimed that DEI “could have been” to blame for the fatal collision.
Trump suggested that the Federal Aviation Administration's diversity efforts have made air travel less safe.
"The FAA is actively recruiting workers who suffer severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems, and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative spelled out on the agency's website," Trump said at a briefing on Thursday.
Trump was then asked by a reporter: “Are you saying this crash was somehow caused and the result of diversity hiring and what evidence have you seen to support these claims?”
The president replied: “It just could have been.”
Data from all three aircraft 'black boxes' being extracted
Sunday 2 February 2025 06:00
,
Mike Bedigan
Three black boxes — one from the Black Hawk helicopter and two from the American Airlines jet — have been recovered from the wreckage in Washington D.C.’s Potomac River, and are now being analyzed in labs.
The helicopter’s box was recovered Friday after investigators previously recovered two black boxes from the jet.
“We have a high level of confidence that we will be able to have a full extraction,” NTSB member Todd Inman said.
A passenger jet had to abort a landing at Reagan National Airport just 24 hours before fatal crash due to a helicopter
Sunday 2 February 2025 05:01
,
Mike Bedigan
A passenger jet had to suddenly abort its landing at Reagan National Airport because of a helicopter in its flight path, just a day before an airliner and a military helicopter catastrophically collided in the same airspace, highlighting the complications of managing helicopter traffic around the busy Washington-area airport.
Josh Marcus has more:
Who were the soldiers on board the Black Hawk helicopter?
Sunday 2 February 2025 04:15
,
Mike Bedigan
The Army has now identified all three soldiers who were on board the downed Black Hawk helicopter.
The crew chief of the helicopter was identified as Ryan O’Hara, who leaves behind a wife and 1-year-old son.
Chief Warrant Officer Andrew Eaves, 39, of Great Mills, Maryland, and Captain Rebecca Lobach, 28, of Durham, North Carolina, were also on the aircraft.
Lobach was a distinguished military graduate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and commissioned in 2019 as an active-duty aviation officer.
Recap: What we know so far about the mid-air collision near D.C.'s Reagan Airport
Sunday 2 February 2025 03:30
,
Mike Bedigan
Investigations are continuing, three days after the deadly mid-air collision near to Washington D.C.’s Ronald Reagan airport.
A total of 67 people were killed after a passenger jet collided with a Black Hawk military helicopter.
As more and more details emerge, here’s what we know so far:
Black Hawk helicopter performing 'doomsday' training at time of collision
Sunday 2 February 2025 03:00
,
Mike Bedigan
The Army’s Black Hawk helicopter was performing a “doomsday” training when it collided with an American Airlines jet above Washington, D.C. near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Wednesday.
The helicopter was flying a route that’s part of a military plan to evacuate senior government officials to safety if the country is attacked, Reuters reports. The military mission is known as "continuity of government" and "continuity of operations,” according to Reuters.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said this week that the helicopter and its crew were performing “a routine, annual re-training of night flights on a standard corridor for a continuity of government mission."
Watch: Trans pilot speaks out after being falsely smeared in DC crash
Sunday 2 February 2025 02:15
,
Mike Bedigan
Recap: Who were the victims of the Washington D.C. mid-air crash?
Sunday 2 February 2025 01:30
,
Mike Bedigan
A civil rights attorney and former Beauty pageant winner is among those killed in the horror crash between a passenger plane and Army helicopter in Washington, D.C.
Teenage ice skating stars, their parents, and a soon-to-be-married pilot are some of the other souls lost in the January 29 tragedy.
Here’s what we know about the victims:
Loved ones of DCA victims worried Philadelphia crash will delay answers
Sunday 2 February 2025 00:45
,
Mike Bedigan
Todd Ilman said that the families of the victims of the DCA crash were concerned that the shocking incident in Philadelphia, in which an air ambulance came down in a residential area, would delay the NTSB’s investigation.
Asked about the families on Saturday, Ilman said: “I spent several hours with them today.
“There's more, some new there's some that have been there for three days, some that want to give us hugs. Some that are just mad and angry. They're just all hurt, and they still want answers, and we want to give them answers.
He added: “The most devastating thing, I guess, today was, they watched the news last night.
“They know their loved ones. They're thinking, is it going to take longer? Am I going to be able to find my loved one? How will this affect it? I mean, it's horrible, and no one ever should suffer this. So, yeah, it is hard on them. They have a lot of questions.”
Five people were working in the tower at the time of the accident
Sunday 2 February 2025 00:00
,
Mike Bedigan
NTSB spokesperson Todd Ilman confirmed that five people had been working in the air traffic control tower at the time of the accident and that interviews with them would be completed by Monday.
“This is a controller’s worst nightmare. It hits everyone that works in that cab and knows them very hard,” he said.
“These interviews take a long time, not because there's that much talking, but there's several breaks that occur for emotions, just to be able to compose themselves, to talk about what happened.
“We want to be thorough. If we need to go back for additional information, we absolutely will. We're getting full cooperation and access to those individuals we need, and we hope, again, to have them completed, no later than Monday.
Third crew member of Black Hawk helicopter identified
Saturday 1 February 2025 23:40
,
Mike Bedigan
The Army has released the name of the third crew member of the Black Hawk helicopter.
Captain Rebecca Lobach, 28 was from Durham, North Carolina.
She was a distinguished military graduate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and commissioned in 2019 as an active-duty aviation officer.
Night vision goggles were being 'utilized' during Black Hawk crew before crash
Saturday 1 February 2025 23:30
,
Mike Bedigan
Ilman confirmed that the Black Hawk was on a “training mission” and that night vision goggles were being used.
“We can verify it was on a training flight that would utilize night vision goggles,” he said. “We do not know at this time if the night vision goggles were actively being worn, nor what the setting may be.
“Further investigation should be able to let us know if that occurred and what factor it may play in the overall accident.”
NTSB starts DC conference with remarks on Philadelphia crash
Saturday 1 February 2025 23:15
,
Mike Bedigan
NTSB spokesman Todd Ilman kicked off Saturday evening’s DCA press conference by acknowledging the shocking crash that happened in Philadelphia on Friday night.
“Tonight, we also need to give the condolences to yet another set of individuals due to the Philadelphia crash. Our hearts go out to all of them,” he said.
“Nobody should suffer this much tragedy no matter what time frame in between it.
“Know this, we will find out what happened in both of those accidents. We'll make recommendations, we will attempt to never have to deal with those type of accidents again.”
Footage captures moment of Washington DC plane crash
Saturday 1 February 2025 23:02
,
Mike Bedigan
Black Hawk helicopter performing 'doomsday' training at time of collision
Saturday 1 February 2025 22:29
,
Katie Hawkinson
The Army’s Black Hawk helicopter was performing a “doomsday” training when it collided with an American Airlines jet above Washington, D.C. near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Wednesday.
The helicopter was flying a route that’s part of a military plan to evacuate senior government officials to safety if the country is attacked, Reuters reports. The military mission is known as "continuity of government" and "continuity of operations,” according to Reuters.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said this week that the helicopter and its crew were performing “a routine, annual re-training of night flights on a standard corridor for a continuity of government mission."
Trump won't visit Washington DC plane crash site because it's 'the water': 'You want me to go swimming?’
Saturday 1 February 2025 21:52
,
Mike Bedigan
Donald Trump responded sarcastically to questions about whether he would be visiting the site of the deadly crash over the Potomac River in Washington D.C., asking reporters at the White House: “You want me to go swimming?”
Read more:
