What we know about the American Airlines aircraft in Washington DC ncvrs.com

It is believed that sixty -seven people have died after a passenger aircraft hit a military helicopter near Washington DC Ronald Reagan Airport on Wednesday night.

It is not clear what caused the collision. Flight tracking shows that the helicopter will fly above the permissible height minutes before the collision. But the investigation continues to determine what happened badly.

Authorities have regained flight data recorders from American Airlines Jet and continue to find bodies in the icy potomac river where the aircraft has fallen.

The aircraft, the Bombardier CRJ700, traveled from Wichita, Kansas. American Airlines operated as a 5342 flight.

The US army helicopter was a Sikorsky H-60 ​​Black Hawk starting from Fort Belvoir in Virginia and belonging to Company B, belonging to the 12th flight battalion.

The helicopter seems to be a BBC partner, CBS News, according to CBS News analyzes, according to a helicopter.

Online air traffic control conversations suggest that a controller has tried to warn the helicopter from the American Airlines in seconds before the collision.

The helicopter pilot seemed to respond to confirm that they were aware of the aircraft, but moments later the two aircraft hit each other. Secretary of Transport Sean Duffy also said that the helicopter was aware of the nearby aircraft.

Joining Duffy at a briefing on Thursday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth added that the helicopter was on an annual proficiency flight – and the crew had a spectacular glasses at night.

The collision took place at about 9:00 pm (02:00 GMT) as the aircraft approached Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

One eyewitness, Ari Schulman, told NBC Washington that the approach to the aircraft seems normal until he saw that the right side of his hard side, “Sparks”, is running under the craft and illuminating his belly and believed to be ” Very -very -very -very -very bad.

Another eyewitness, Jimmy Mazeo, reminded me that he saw what looked like a “white torch” in the sky. He noted that aircraft approaching the airport seemed to fly in “irregular patterns”.

After the collision, the passenger aircraft broke into several pieces and sank several feet into the river as the helicopter went upside down on the water.

Hundreds of first respondents installed the search for survivors on rubber boats. Officials highlighted the challenges of the challenges that were worked on the ice-cold river and the resistance of the aircraft with wreckage.

They later said they did not expect to find survivors and changed their mission to focus on body collection.

Details of the 64 people aboard the aircraft, who include the most important skaters and members of four crews. Meanwhile, the helicopter transported three soldiers.

Forty one body was acquired, including three people flying on the US military helicopter, and emergency officials told the BBC.

People who were known to be in flight, skaters, a young pilot, flight attendants and a lawyer on his birthday.

They consist of many nationalities – and many of them have been identified by family members and organizations.

Six people were linked to a Boston club. Two teenagers, their mothers and two Russian coaches, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, were world champions in their sport, the club said.

The captain of the airplane, Jonathan Campos, was named by his aunt, who told the New York Times that flying aircraft was a lifelong dream of his nephew.

According to CBS, Ryan O’hara was the leader of the helicopter crew.

It is not yet clear what caused the collision. Officers obtained the data recorder and the cockpit recorder from the JET, called the Black Boxes, and examine possible contribution factors, including human errors.

The National Transport Security Board (NTSB) began the first day of the first investigation on Thursday and intends to issue a preliminary report within 30 days.

Hegseth said he expected the investigation to determine that the helicopter would fly in the right corridor and height.

NTSB officials said Thursday that the helicopter seemed to be moving from one corridor to another in a usual maneuver.

As the official probe continues, the New York Times reported that the traffic control staff at that time was “not normal” – citing a preliminary Federal Aviation Directorate (FAA) report.

Usually two people handle helicopters and aircraft flying around the area, but only one person is said to do so during the accident, said NYT and CBS.

The Washington Post and CNN also reported that another jet engine had to be aborted just 24 hours before the fatal accident after a helicopter was close to the flight.

President Trump said on Friday that the Black Hawk helicopter would fly too high.

“It was far beyond the length of 200 feet. It’s not really complicated to understand, right ???” said.

The helicopter seems to have flown above the border, according to the publicly available flight data analyzed by CBS News.

The Flargradar24 data showed that the helicopter was about 400 feet at the last estimated height of the helicopter.

“Why is this day, on this flight, 150-200 feet taller than they knew they should be?” Greg Feith, a former air security detective, told CBS.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told Fox News Morning Show on Friday: “Someone was at the wrong height.

“The investigation helps us understand this. Was the Black Hawk too high? It was on the pitch? We don’t know right now.”

Trump said that the country had previously been in mourning before settling on its political enemies.

He thought that Joe Biden and Barack Obama have reduced the standards for the recruitment of air traffic controllers in the FAA, claiming that this could be a factor during the disaster.

Trump said that his team and his team had a “strong opinion and idea” about what happened, but admitted that the investigation was early.

He also announced that he would appoint Chris Rocheleau as the temporary leader of the FAA. The most important work there and the positions of the administrator and the deputy deputy, Trump, have been empty.

Serious events of this kind are relatively rare in the United States. According to Reuters, the latest comparable accident occurred in 2009.

This year, an airplane collapsed to land in the New York Buffalo and killed all 49 people on board and a man on the ground.

The airspace above Washington DC is busy and very controlled. Domestic and international traffic is used using two airports and there are extra factors around presidential flights, heavy military traffic and pentagon.

Passengers need to follow fixed flight plans, said BBC traffic correspondent Sean Dilley. Unlike uncontrolled airspace, military pilots operate with strict education of air traffic controllers. But unlike their civilian counterparts, they have freedom to deviate and have a duty to “see and avoid” other aircraft.