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DC plane crash live updates: Investigators comb through wreckage for clues

All 67 people on board the plane and the helicopter were killed in the crash.

Last Updated: February 6, 2025, 4:43 PM EST

Hundreds of families are in mourning after an American Airlines regional jet collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on Jan. 29, with both aircraft plunging into the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C.

No one survived.

Sixty-four people were on board the plane, which departed from Wichita, Kansas. Three soldiers were on the helicopter.

Feb 09, 2025, 5:20 PM EST

FBI identifies additional crash debris in the Potomac

Divers from the FBI continue to investigate multiple underwater targets that could be additional aircraft debris from the Bombardier CRJ700 passenger jet and the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk that crashed into the Potomac River on Jan. 29, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

The debris may be removed to join the larger pieces of wreckage from both aircraft, which were recovered in full last week, and which NTSB investigators are in the process of examining and documenting, they said on Sunday.

-ABC News' Ayesha Ali

Feb 08, 2025, 6:52 PM EST

Investigators comb through wreckage for clues

Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board are now examining the wreckage from the midair collision of the regional American Airlines jet and Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport.

The NTSB shared a video of investigators as they combed through the debris.

NTSB investigators continue their investigation of a midair collision of a PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 airplane and Sikorsky UH-60 military helicopter.
NTSB

The agency said all major pieces of both the jet and the helicopter have been taken to a secure airport facility for further examination. Investigators are looking for marks on the aircraft that could provide clues to the angle of collision.

Feb 06, 2025, 7:36 PM EST

All major parts of jet, Black Hawk helicopter removed from Potomac River

All major parts of the American Airlines regional jet and Black Hawk helicopter have been removed from the Potomac River after last week's crash, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Thursday.

Salvage crews will continue to work on clearing smaller debris from the river.

The crews began removing the wreckage from the Jan. 29 crash on Monday.

Feb 06, 2025, 5:57 PM EST

Black Hawk pilots believed to be wearing night vision goggles: NTSB chair

The pilots of the U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter that collided with the regional American Airlines jet last week, were believed to be wearing night vision goggles at the time of the crash, an official said.

“We do believe, given the mission and given what we’ve heard or not heard on the [cockpit voice recorder] that they were wearing night vision goggles,” National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said during a press gaggle Thursday.

She said that's according to NTSB's preliminary information.

Homendy also said the NTSB did not know for sure that the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) tracking system was installed on the helicopter and the agency is awaiting further evaluation.

Earlier, Sen. Ted Cruz, of Texas, said lawmakers were briefed by the Federal Aviation Administration and told that the data from the ADS-B system in the helicopter was "turned off."

-ABC News' Ayesha Ali and Clara McMichael

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