DC Plane Crash Updates: Over 40 Bodies Recovered As Search Pauses

Updated at 6:20 p.m. ET

ARLINGTON, VA — Divers have paused their search of the Potomac River for victims killed in the crash involving an American Airlines passenger flight and a military helicopter, and will resume in daylight Friday, reports said.

A total of 67 people died in the crash at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. More than 40 bodies have been removed from the water as of late Thursday afternoon, CNN reported.

The two pilots of American Eagle Flight 5342 have been identified by their families as Captain Jonathan Campos, 34, of Florida, and First Officer Sam Lilley, 28, of Savannah, Georgia, The Daily Mail reported.

Also, media reports in Atlanta said that Ryan O’Hara was the helicopter's crew chief.

The American Airlines passenger flight and a UH-60 Black Hawk, with a crew of three, collided about 8:48 p.m. Wednesday night in clear weather conditions.

Staffing in the air traffic control tower was "not normal" at the time of the midair collision near Washington, according to a Federal Aviation Administration report obtained by the Associated Press. Details on this development can be found here.

One of the flight data recorders from either the plane or the helicopter was retrieved from the river, officials said Thursday evening.

Related:

• 2 Killed In DC Plane Crash Had GA Ties: Reports
• Who Was On Flight That Crashed Into Potomac: What We Know So Far
• Timeline: Helicopter Told To Reroute Before Reagan Airport Crash
• Ashburn Ice House Coach Among Airplane Crash Victims

The National Transportation Safety Board is already trying to determine what caused the crash. A preliminary report on what caused the mishap is expected in 30 days.

"Our investigative team will be on-scene as long as it takes to obtain perishable data … to find the probable cause of why it happened and how to prevent it from ever happening again," said Todd Inman, an NTSB board member and spokesman.

President's Remarks

President Donald Trump spoke to the press corps Thursday and offered his condolences, and the nation's, to the families of the victims.

“We are in mourning, this has shaken a lot of people," the president said. "We can only begin to imagine the agony you are feeling. Our prayers are with you now and in the days to come.”

Trump then seemed to blame the Biden Administration's DEI hiring policy and air traffic controllers for the crash. There has been no discussion of what caused the crash so far from federal investigators, including the National Transportation Safety Board, which has taken over the inquiry.

Trump criticized diversity hiring efforts at the FAA, though when pressed about why, he acknowledged that there is no evidence yet that it could be blamed for the collision.

“It just could have been,” he said. "I have common sense."

Regional Leaders React

“This morning we all share a profound sense of grief,” Washington, D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser said.

Donnelly said the fuselage of the American Airlines flight 5342 was inverted and found in three sections in waist-deep water. Recovery of the victims will continue Thursday.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said on CNN that every effort is being put forth to make sure that every loved one is accounted for at the crash site.

"I can’t begin to express the heartfelt sympathy from the Commonwealth," Youngkin said. "The work today is to make sure everyone is recovered and the families are given the tremendous support they will need."

Related:

• 'I Need You To Land': Audio From Moments Before DC Plane Crash
• MD Divers Search Potomac For Bodies After DC Plane Crash
• Here Are Some Of The Deadliest Plane Crashes In U.S. History
• DC Plane Crash Photos: Passenger Jet Collides With Army Helicopter

When asked if he had concerns on the traffic volume of aircraft at Reagan National, Youngkin said it is a very busy area, but it’s a busy area that has been safe.

"Investigation will be critically important to determine what happened and make sure it never happened again. Air travel in the US is the safest in the world, and yet this happened."

A figure skating coach in Ashburn, Virginia, was among the victims presumed dead in the Wednesday night crash of an American Airlines plane with a military helicopter near Reagan National Airport. Inna Volanskaya, a coach at the Ashburn Ice House, is among the 67 victims who authorities believe are dead in the plane crash, Rep. Suhas Subramanyan (D-Loudoun) said on Thursday.

Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser stressed that crews were operating a rescue operation in the "very dark and cold conditions" of the Potomac River overnight. She confirmed that there were 64 people on the American Airlines flight and three people on the military helicopter.

"I can’t say anything about the rescue operation right now," she said when pressed on details related to the passengers, but said more frequent news briefings were expected Thursday.

More than 300 personnel were at the scene in Virginia, working through the night to find people from the two aircraft. The first responders included fire departments from Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia.

President Donald Trump said early Thursday that the crash at Reagan Airport "should have been prevented."

In a post to his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said:

The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport. The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time. It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didn’t the helicopter go up or down, or turn. Why didn’t the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane. This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!

Two minutes later, he added, "What a terrible night this has been. God bless you all!"

The U.S. Army UH-60 helicopter was on a training exercise out of Fort Belvoir, Virginia, a Pentagon spokesperson said.

Axios reported that the helicopter was told to maintain visual separation with the plane — essentially, "see and avoid," which is not an unusual procedure, aviation expert Alex Fitzpatrick told the website.

"This was not unusual with a military aircraft flying the river and an aircraft landing at DCA," U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said Thursday morning.

So far it's unclear why the helicopter did not change its path as the jet as it made its final descent.

"Do I think this was preventable? Absolutely," Duffy said, without offering specifics.

Reaction From Airline, Area Leaders

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom released a video statement early Thursday morning, expressing "deep sorrow" about the crash of flight 5342.

According to Isom, the flight involved in the deadly crash was operated by PSA Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Airlines.

"We are actively working with local, state, and federal authorities on emergency response efforts and the American Airlines care team has been activated to assist our passengers and their families," Isom said. "Our cooperation is without pause, and we want to learn everything we can about today’s events. That work will take time, but anything we can do now we’re doing and right now that means focusing on taking care of all passengers and crew involved as well as their families."

Isom said that if people believe they had friends or family aboard the flight, they can call a special hotline set up at 1-800-679-8215.

The Washington Post also said "multiple bodies" were pulled from the water, citing officials and people familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The bodies are being taken to the police department’s air support base near the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge.

Rescue helicopters from agencies across DC, Maryland and Virginia were flying over the scene and searching for survivors. Inflatable rescue boats were launched into the Potomac River from a point near the airport along the George Washington Parkway, just north of the airport.

Reagan Airport has been closed since the crash, but officials said it will reopen at 11 a.m. Thursday. Jack Potter with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said the resumption of flights will not affect the ongoing recovery efforts at the crash scene.

The U.S. Army said the helicopter, with a crew of three, involved was a UH-60 Blackhawk based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia and was on a training flight. Military aircraft frequently conduct training flights in and around the congested and heavily-restricted airspace around the nation’s capital for familiarization and continuity of government planning.

First responders from across the mobilized quickly to begin search and rescue efforts, said Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

“I ask everyone to pray for the passengers, crews, their families, and brave first responders," he said.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore's office said the state has deployed divers to the Potomac scene. The Maryland Natural Resources Police are also on site.

"We are closely monitoring the aviation collision incident that occurred earlier this evening near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The State of Maryland and local authorities are engaged in response," Moore said on X.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser echoed her support.

"Our prayers are with everyone involved, and we will continue to keep the public updated as more information becomes available," Bowser said on X.

The collision said the crash happened in some of the most tightly controlled and monitored airspace in the world, just over three miles south of the White House and the Capitol.

Investigators will try to piece together the aircrafts' final moments before their collision, including contact with air traffic controllers as well as a loss of altitude by the passenger jet.

The plane was at an altitude of about 400 feet and a speed of about 140 miles per hour when it suffered a rapid loss of altitude over the Potomac River, according to data from its radio transponder. The Canadian-made twin-engine jet was manufactured in 2004 and can be configured to carry up to 70 passengers.

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 adjust its approach to the new runway.

In audio from the air traffic control tower around the time of the crash, a controller is heard asking the helicopter, “PAT25 do you have the CRJ in sight,” in reference to the passenger aircraft.
“Tower did you see that?” another pilot is heard calling seconds after the apparent collision.
The tower immediately began diverting other aircraft from Reagan.

Video from an observation camera at the nearby Kennedy Center showed two sets of lights consistent with aircraft appearing to join in a fireball.

AccuWeather said water temperatures ranged from 33 to 36 degrees in the Potomac River Wednesday night, adding hypothermia concerns for potential survivors.

Reagan National is located along the Potomac River, just southwest of the city. It’s a popular choice because it’s much closer than the larger Dulles International Airport, which is deeper in Virginia.

More on the crash can be found here.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.