Most victim bodies recovered, identified at Potomac collision

Authorities on Sunday confirmed the identities of 55 people pulled from the wreckage in the Potomac River, said Washington, D.C., Fire Chief John Donnelly. Crews recovered additional remains Saturday but had not yet positively identified them, he said, although it is likely divers will recover all 67 victims of the collision. Crews from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Monday were scheduled to start pulling the wreckage of the plane and helicopter from the water. Officials will take the debris to a nearby hangar for investigators to analyze.

What do we know about the people on board the helicopter? The U.S. Army on Saturday identified the third soldier who was aboard the Black Hawk helicopter that collided with the American Airlines flight last week. Capt. Rebecca Lobach of Durham, N.C., served as an aviation officer since January 2019. She was assigned to the 12th Aviation Battalion, Ft. Belvoir, Va., along with the other two pilots who were aboard the helicopter. The Army last week identified Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara of Lilburn, Ga., and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves of Great Mills, Md.

What could have caused the crash? Authorities are investigating whether the helicopter pilots experienced vision impairment while flying and whether it flew higher than it should have, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, or NTSB. Some flight data reports showed that the helicopter may have flown above a 200-foot-high approved route, according to the NTSB. However, control tower data showed the Black Hawk at 200 feet and authorities have not determined what caused the discrepancy, said NTSB member Todd Inman. The passenger jet’s altitude was supposed to be about 300 feet at the time of the crash.

Meanwhile, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said air traffic control staffing at Reagan National Airport was not normal at the time of the crash. He declined to elaborate, saying the Federal Aviation Administration was still investigating and reviewing the incident.

Dig deeper: Read Christina Grube’s report about some of the first victims who were identified.