All Major Pieces Of American Airlines CRJ-700 & US Army Black Hawk Now Recovered From Potomac Crash Site
The National Transportation Safety Board ( NTSB
) has continued its recovery efforts to find the various pieces and parts from the two aircraft that collided near Washington Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA) on January 29.
Major pieces recovered
In updates throughout the weekend, the NTSB detailed that as of February 8, it had recovered all of the major pieces of the PSA Airlines Mitsubishi CRJ700
and the United States Army (USA) Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter.
The parts were moved to a secure airport facility for further examination and documentation, the NTSB added.
“Investigators will be looking for witness marks on the aircraft that could provide clues to the angle of collision. Teams also recovered the CRJ’s Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) and retrieved additional avionics from the Black Hawk.”
Photo: NTSB
However, the investigators warned that a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), one of the institutions unlawfully targeted by the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), according to Jared Huffman and Zoe Lofgren, two Democrat Representatives, aircraft helped them conduct a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), potentially identifying multiple underwater objects that could be additional debris.
US Transport Chief Seeks Input From Elon Musk To Fix Airspace Congestion
Sean Duffy’s plan to involve DOGE to fix the National Airspace System (NAS) was met with sharp criticism.
Additional aircraft parts
In a follow-up update on February 9, the NTSB said that following the LiDAR survey, divers from the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) have continued to investigate multiple underwater objects that could be additional aircraft debris of the CRJ700 and/or the UH-60 Black Hawk.
The NTSB noted that these parts were recovered by crane and were being offloaded and brought to a safe location for documentation.
“NTSB investigators continued to document the helicopter wreckage. Several components were removed from the wreckage and arrangements are being made for detailed follow up examination of these items.”
Photo: NTSB
The NTSB, which should publish the preliminary report of the incident within 30 days after January 29, immediately began investigating the event involving the PSA Airlines CRJ700, which was operating American Airlines Flight 5342
on behalf of American Eagle
, which collided with a USA UH-60 Black Hawk near Washington-National on January 29.
Last week, search crews had managed to recover the remains of the 67 people who perished in the accident, including 60 passengers, four crew members onboard the CRJ700, and the three crewpersons from the UH-60 Black Hawk.
Related
NTSB Updates On American Airlines CRJ700 Crash In DC After Aft Fuselage Recovered
The NTSB reiterated that a preliminary report should be published 30 days after the crash.
Dozens of government agencies using the crash route
In an interview with the Associated Press (AP), Brigadier General Matthew Braman, the director of Aviation for Headquarters of the USA, said that the USA’s 12th Battalion was one of the 28 agencies that have used helicopter routes around Washington-National
.
Shortly after the accident, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) prohibited helicopters from entering the airspace near Washington-National, saying it would review its decision following the NTSB’s findings. The UH-60 Black Hawk was flying one of the routes that has specific altitude limitations.
Photo: NTSB
On Route 4, helicopters are limited to flying at or below 200 feet (60.9 m) mean sea level (MSL) north of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, according to the FAA’s helicopter route chart for the Baltimore-Washington area.
During a media briefing on February 1, Todd Inman, a board member of the NTSB, disclosed that based on the data recorder, the CRJ700 was flying at an altitude of 325 ft (99 m), with a margin of error of 25 ft (7.6 m).
Related
American Airlines Crash NTSB Investigation: Black Hawk Flying At 300 Feet
The NTSB noted that it had obtained new information that indicated that the ATC saw the Black Hawk UH-60’s altitude as 300 feet.
