Black Boxes Recovered from DCA Crash Wreckage

The National Transportation Safety Board said on Thursday that it recovered flight data recorders (also known as black boxes) from the aircraft involved in the fatal mid-air collision at Reagan Washington National Airport this past week.

NTSB posted on the social media platform, “NTSB investigators recovered both the cockpit voice recording device and the flight data recorder from the Bombardier CRJ700 aircraft involved in the mid-air collision yesterday at DCA. The recorders are in the NTSB laboratories for evaluation.”

After an American Airlines passenger aircraft and Army Black Hawk helicopter collided on Wednesday night outside Washington, D.C., response teams are working to recover evidence in the Potomac River. The NTSB leads the investigation into the crash, which likely killed 69 — 64 people from the plane including passengers, crew, and three soldiers aboard the helicopter. This is the deadliest aviation incident in almost 24 years.

NewsNation reported that as of Friday morning, 41 bodies had been recovered.

Brice Banning said during a briefing that his team would remain on the scene for as long as necessary to gather all the evidence, including perishable items.

Banning added, “Our mission is not only to understand what happened but also why it happened. We will then recommend changes that can be made to avoid it happening again.” We don’t yet have much information because we are just starting our investigation.

Officials hope to publish a preliminary report on the accident in 30 days. Investigators will look at human error, mechanical failure, and environmental factors to determine what may have led to the mid-air crash.

No survivors were recovered from the crash.