This picture provided by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on February 2, 2025 shows members of the salvage crew recovering wreckage of the Bombardier CRJ700 and Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk midair collision over the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport. Agence France-Presse
WASHINGTON — Operations to salvage the wreckage from a deadly collision between a US Army helicopter and a passenger jet continued Sunday as rescuers said 55 victims had so far been identified.
Dozens of victims have been pulled from the icy Potomac River, and rescuers voiced confidence that those remaining would be retrieved in the massive operation to recover the plane that collided in midair with a Black Hawk military helicopter.
Article continues after this advertisementWashington fire chief John Donnelly said human remains of some of the 67 people killed in the crash had been found as efforts were made to lift the fuselage of the plane, adding that they were taken to the medical examiner.
FEATURED STORIES GLOBALNATION ‘Spies’ were PH residents for decades – BI GLOBALNATION Musk brands USAID 'criminal' as civil service scrutiny grows GLOBALNATION Rubio lays down ultimatum to Panama over canalREAD: Trump blames DC air crash on diversity hiring
“Tomorrow there’ll be some lifting operations on the wreckage that’s in the water,” he told a briefing Sunday.
Article continues after this advertisement“So far, 55 victims have been positively identified…from this this accident,” he added.
Article continues after this advertisementSome 200 vessels were involved with the recovery and salvage efforts, the Coast Guard said.
Article continues after this advertisement“We will absolutely stay here and search until such point as we have everybody,” Donnelly said.
‘Staffing shortages’The airliner was coming in to land at Reagan National Airport — just a few miles from the White House — when it collided with a US Army helicopter on a training mission on Wednesday night.
Article continues after this advertisementREAD: US envoy to PH mourns death of Filipino colonel in Washington air crash
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is expected to compile a preliminary report within 30 days, although a full investigation could take a year.
As the investigation searches for answers, aviation experts have homed in on whether the helicopter crew could see through military night-vision goggles and whether the Reagan National Airport control tower was understaffed.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Sunday that staffing shortages had long been a problem for air traffic control, vowing to improve the situation.
“Staffing shortages for air traffic control has been a major problem for years and years,” he said on Fox News Sunday, where he promised to ensure “bright, smart, brilliant people in towers controlling airspace.”
Two years later, plans to repurpose the country’s oldest coal power plant have amounted to little in a process that offers caution and lessons for countries intending to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels and switch to renewables.
Officials meeting in Baku next month for the COP29 summit hope to agree on new finance targets to help developing countries respond to climate change, including ditching fossil fuels.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly tied the causes of the crash and staffing shortages to diversity, equity and inclusion policies, attributing them without evidence and before the formal crash investigation has concluded.
“This is not saying that the person who was at the controls is a DEI hire… first of all, we should investigate everything. But let’s just say the person at the controls didn’t have enough staffing around him or her, because we were turning people away because of DEI reasons,” Vice President JD Vance said in an interview on Fox Business.
The Washington disaster, among the most deadly in decades, was followed closely by the crash of a medical plane into a busy Philadelphia neighborhood, killing a young Mexican girl aboard, her mother, the crew, as well as a bystander on the ground Friday.
The girl had been in the US for life-saving medical care and was on her way back to Mexico, according to the hospital that treated her and the company that operated the medical flight.
online slot machines for real moneyOn Sunday, a United Airlines flight from Houston to New York was evacuated after an engine ran into difficulty before takeoff, the Federal Aviation Administration reported.
Subscribe to our daily newsletter
Fire crews were scrambled and nobody was injuredlcc, the Houston Fire Department said.
READ NEXT Flight evacuated as engine sparks fire during takeoff at Houst... Fr. Luciano Felloni, who helped families of EJK victims, dies ... EDITORS' PICK ‘Dog Man’ has big bite at box office with $36 million opening Asian stocks dive, dollar rallies as Year of the Snake starts with bite Catholic Church releases AI guidelines for labor, warfare, etc. VP Sara Duterte impeachment raps to be sent to Speaker this week – House Olivia Rodrigo performs at FireAid concert for LA wildfire relief Miss Universe Queens Catriona Gray, Michelle Dee, and Celeste Cortesi open up about liposuction journey MOST READ Dela Rosa last passenger to board chopper which crashed in Nueva Ecija Barbie Hsu, Taiwanese actress and ‘Meteor Garden’ lead star, dies at 48 Water service interruptions set in Metro Manila, Rizal Feb 3 to 7 Judge in De Lima case found guilty of neglect of duty Follow @FMangosingINQ on Twitter --> View comments
