55 victims positively identified following deadly DC plane crash
Additional remains have been removed from the icy Potomac River as recovery efforts continue following the deadly midair collision involving an American Airlines passenger plane and an Army helicopter Wednesday night. At this time, officials say 55 victims have been positively identified.
WASHINGTON – Additional remains have been removed from the icy Potomac River as recovery efforts continue following the deadly midair collision involving an American Airlines passenger plane and an Army helicopter Wednesday night.
At this time, officials say 55 victims have been positively identified.
Unified Command held a press conference Sunday afternoon saying crews are continuing to survey the site to plan for aircraft recovery and salvage equipment has been moved into place.
They say the key priority right now is getting the dignified removal of the 12 remaining victims. At this stage, that will happen during the process of removing the plane. When a victim is found, officials say they’ll pause operations and work to remove the remains.
RELATED: United Airlines plane catches fire at Houston’s Bush Airport
Col. Francis Pera with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says removal of the airplane is intentional both to protect the NTSB’s investigation into what happened, and to ensure the proper and respectful removal of additional victims.
“All salvage operations will be completed in close coordination with the Unified Command,” Pera said. “All of our partners, just really for strict adherence to our central priority of a dignified recovery of flight passengers and personnel will take precedent. Should any remains be found during our process, an automatic work stoppage happens, and we’ll definitely begin to begin the proper coordination with the appropriate authorities.”
The aircraft is expected to be lifted on Monday. Unified Command says the initial focus is the removal of the remnants of the regional jet, which is expected to take at least three days.
Following the recovery of the jet, crews will shift to recovery of the Black Hawk helicopter and its additional wreckage.
Officials say on or around Feb. 8, crews will focus on clearing up the remaining debris with salvage baskets before demobilizing equipment by Feb. 12.
They ask anyone who discovers the wreckage to call 911.
The only injury amid the recovery efforts so far was a diver who suffered hyperthermia during the search efforts. Officials say the individual is doing fine now.
Unified Command update on DC plane crash
Additional remains have been recovered from the icy Potomac River as recovery efforts continue following the deadly crash involving an American Airlines passenger plane and an Army helicopter Wednesday night. At this time, officials say 55 victims have been positively identified.
Victims of the DC plane crash
What we know:
All 67 people on board the American Airlines flight and the Blackhawk helicopter are presumed dead.
Below is a list of confirmed names of people on board the flight and the helicopter.
- Everly Livingston
- Alydia Livingston
- Donna Livingston
- Peter Livingston
- Franco Aparicio
- Luciano Aparicio
- Edward Zhou, and his parents Kiyan and Joe
- Cory Haynos, and his parents Stephanie and Roger
- Brielle Beyer and her mom Justyna
- Spencer Lane
- Christine Lane
- Jinna Han
- Jin Han
- Olivia Ter and her mom Oleysa
- Jesse Pitcher
- Tommy Clagget
- Mikey Stovall
- Jon Boyd
- Steve Johnson
- Charles McDaniel
- Alex Huffman
- Andrew Eaves
- Vikesh Patel
- Elizabeth Keys
- Sarah Best
- Casey Crafton
- Sean Kay and his mother Yulia
- Asra Hussain
- Evgenia Shishkova
- Vadim Naumov
- Inna Volyanskaya
- Ryan O’Hara
- Kiah Duggins
- Ian Epstein
- Tim Lilley
- Jonathan Campos
- Wendy Shaffer
What caused the DC plane crash?
The backstory:
On Wednesday evening at about 9 p.m. ET, American Airlines Flight 5342 was inbound to Ronald Reagan National Airport at about 400 feet and a speed of about 140 mph when the plane rapidly lost altitude over the Potomac River, according to data from its radio transponder.
A few minutes before landing, air traffic controllers asked the arriving commercial jet if it could land on the shorter Runway 33 at Reagan National, and the pilots said they were able.
Controllers then cleared the plane to land on Runway 33. Flight-tracking sites showed the plane adjusting its approach to the new runway.
Less than 30 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller asked the Black Hawk if it had the arriving plane in sight. The controller made another radio call to the helicopter moments later: “PAT 25, pass behind the CRJ.” Seconds after that, the two aircraft collided.
The plane’s transponder stopped transmitting about 2,400 feet (732 meters) short of the runway, roughly over the middle of the river.
What we don’t know:
Whether it was human error or a mechanical error that caused the deadly crash is yet to be determined.
On Thursday evening, Peter Knudson, a NTSB spokesperson, confirmed crews recovered the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the passenger airplane.
