The first results of the investigations to determine the causes of the clash between a plane and a helicopter in Washington will be known in 30 days, authorities reported. The black boxes of the aircraft have not yet been found.
The United States began on Thursday the investigation of the collision in the air between a passenger plane from American Airlines and an American military helicopter near Washington and the preliminary report in this regard will be known in 30 days.
This was reported at a press conference, Jennifer Homendy, head of the National Transport Security Board, who also said that they are working with all the agencies involved in the subject to determine why the aircraft collided on Wednesday night.
Todd Inman, a member of the Board, said in the meeting with journalists: “Our intention is to have a preliminary report within 30 days, and the final report will be issued once we have completed all our research and determination of the facts.”
He also assured that none of the black boxes of the plane or the helicopter have yet been found, but that they can find “more than one”.
When asked if there are indications that the escape ramps of the plane or lifeguard were deployed, Homendy said that “nothing indicates” that this has happened, but preferred not to give more details because, he said, they are in the process of contrasting the abundant information they have been receiving.
Federal and local officials confirmed on Thursday that there are no survivors between the 64 passengers and the crew of the American Airlines flight, operated by the PSA Airlines subsidiary, and the three members of the UH-60 Black Hawk Hawk Hawk crew of the army.
Both aircraft crashed on the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport, on the outskirts of Washington, in Arlington, Virginia. The recovery operations of the victims continue.
Trump blames Obama and Biden
The US Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, who joined President Donald Trump at a press conference at the White House to discuss the accident, said that both the plane and the helicopter had been in “standard flight patterns” before The collision.
At the press conference, Trump asked for a moment of silence for the victims and said that all resources at the local, state and federal level were taking advantage of the recovery mission.
Trump also suggested that the previous administrations, headed by the Democratic presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, reduced the standards for the hiring of air traffic controls and cited the initiatives of diversity, equity and inclusion in the federal government for it. He said he reversed those initiatives with executive orders last week.
As for aerial controllers, Trump said: “We want the brightest, the most ready, the most acute. We want someone to be psychologically superior and that is what we are going to have. ”
Trump said it is possible that the helicopter crew was to blame, but that will be known in the investigation. When asked how he could conclude that a diversity initiative contributed to the accident, he replied: “Because I have common sense.”
The United States Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, also spoke at the press conference. He said that the American army helicopter made an annual night training flight and that “tragically, an error was made. There was a kind of elevation problem that we began to investigate immediately. ”
The two aircraft collided when the passenger plane was in its final approach and crashed on the Potomac River, next to the airport. The Secretary of Transportation, Duffy, said the plane broke into three pieces and fell into the water.
Rescue in frozen waters
At a previous press conference on Thursday, Washington's fire chief and emergency services With ice in the water.
He added that the wind and the currents have spread the remains at least one or two kilometers downstream, complicating the recovery work.
The American senators of Virginia, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, said at the press conference that they have expressed concerns over the years about the level of air traffic in the Washington area, but they pointed out that it was not the appropriate time to propose Those issues.
During the night, the American artistic skating organization said that several members of their community, including athletes, coaches and family, were among the passengers of the plane.
“We are devastated by this indescribable tragedy and take the families of the victims in our hearts,” the organization said.
The Kremlin and the Russian media said that Russian artistic skaters were traveling on the plane, including the world champions couple Shishkova and Vadim Naumov. Trump said his administration would facilitate the return of his remains to Russia.
The accident was the deadliest plane accident since 2001, when an American Airlines flight crashed into Belle Harbor, New York, killing 260 people.
(With information from AP, AFP and Reuters)