A crash caused by a collision between a military helicopter and an airliner killed 67 people in Washington. The investigation into the circumstances of the drama began and its conclusions are expected within 30 days, for the time being, no track is excluded.
“Unfortunately there are no survivors” at the air crash that occurred in Washington on the night of Wednesday, January 29, as the American authorities then confirmed then Donald Trump. The collision between an airliner and a military helicopter, near Ronald-Reagan airport, killed 67 victims: the 60 passengers and four crew members of the plane, as well as the three soldiers present in The helicopter. The carcasses of the devices and all the victims ended in the icy waters of the Potomac river. If the firefighters had indicated that they had recovered 28 bodies on Thursday, January 30, the American media had 40 strips of the waters at the end of the day. Some bodies have been spotted, but not yet raised while 14 people are still missing.
Breaking News: A Military Helicopter and A Regional Aircraft from Kansas Collided Near Reagan National Airport, Drawing A Large Emergency Response Near DC Roughly 60 People Were Aboard the Aircraft, Officials Said.
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– The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 30, 2025
The circumstances in which the air crash took place still raised many questions. An investigation was launched by the American Transport Security Agency (NTSB) which assured Thursday evening that “nothing will be overlooked”. But the investigations promise to be long and the NTSB plans to make a preliminary report on the causes of the crash within 30 days. The agency does not yet have a lot of information verified at the moment, and has therefore not been able to establish whether it is a human or mechanical error. The two black boxes of the plane, found in the water in the evening of Thursday, will allow the investigation to be advanced with the analysis of the vocal recorder of the cockpit and the recorder of the flight data. Investigators who have already got their hands on the communications of the control tower, also wonder about the workforce of air controllers who, according to the New York Times, was not at their normal level at the time of the crash.
What happened before the Washington crash?
The plane crash occurred at “average altitude with a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter at the time of the approach to land,” said the American aviation regulator (FAA) on Thursday. The military apparatus was making a “training theft,” said a spokesperson for the American army, in a message relayed on social networks by the head of the Pentagon Pete Hegseth.
According to a recording of the airport control tower dated a few minutes before the helicopter had been warned on the presence of the airliner. On the soundtrack, we clearly hear an air traffic control operator asking the helicopter if he has the commercial airliner “in sight” before telling him to “go behind”, in vain, he is already too late, the crash could not be avoided. According to a preliminary report of the FAA (American Aviation Regulatory Authority), obtained by the New York Times, the control tower was under effect, with a controller instead of two to manage the alleys and came from helicopters and helicopters and helicopters and helicopters and helicopters and planes.
The Washington air crash “should have been avoided,” according to US President Donald Trump, who reacted on the networks. “The helicopter went straight to the plane for an extended period. It is a clear night, the plane lights were lit, why did the helicopter not mounted or descended, or Didn’t he turn? ‘Plane, “he wrote on his Truth Social network. “This is a bad situation that should have been avoided. Not good !!!”, he concludes. A point of view which he reaffirmed at a press conference reproaching “errors” to the pilots of the helicopter and the air controllers. He also accused the previous administration, and in particular his diversity program, of having favored human error – without proof.
08:51 – A dozen passengers still missing
40 of the 67 victims of the air crash were found in the waters Thursday evening according to information from the American media. According to CNN, 14 people are still missing despite the rescue operations that have become recovery operations, this is the case of two soldiers out of the three who were present in the helicopter. The other bodies were spotted, but could not be raised because it is blocked in the plane carcass according to the same media.
08:27 – Air controllers under staff at the time of the crash
If the behavior of the pilots of the plane and especially the helicopter are questioned, the role of the staff of the control tower also questions. According to a preliminary report of the American Aviation Regulatory Authority (FAA), consulted by the New York Times, the staff of the control tower were not “normal for the time of the day and the volume of the volume Traffic “when the crash occurred. Only a controller was responsible for giving instructions to helicopters and planes that took off and landed, against two normally, according to the newspaper.
08:11 – “Not enough elements” to exclude a human error
Thursday evening, the American Transport Security Agency (NTSB) announced the launch of an investigation to understand the circumstances of the crash. But the agency has “no enough elements to be able to establish or exclude” hypotheses, the track of a human error or a mechanical incident are therefore always on the table like the ‘said Todd Inman, an NTSB official, during a press conference. “We have to give us time. We have elements, we have data, in substantial quantity. We must check it. We must take our time to ensure the accuracy” of the conclusions, said The director of the NTSB, Jennifer Homendy.
08:02 – The two black boxes of the plane found
The investigators got their hands on the two black boxes of the plane, which were found in the waters of the Potomac river on Thursday evening. The apparatus that records discussions respectively inside the cockpit and the flight data could allow you to learn more about what happened the minutes preceding the crash. The two black boxes are now analyzed by the American Transport Safety Agency (NTSB) which is responsible for determining the origins of the air accident.
01/30/25 – 23:39 – Donald Trump maintains civil servant stations, despite the crash
Despite the tragedy, Donald Trump does not wish to question his plan to reduce the American Federal official staff through a voluntary starting offer. And this while the control tower would have been in sub-effective, which could have participated in causing the drama. The president of UNITED STATES Maintains the date of February 6, which agents must decide if they want to resign and accept the voluntary departure plan. They will then be “replaced by very competent people. We have many competent people in this country”.
Asked about a possible labor shortage, Donald Trump believes that it is above all a question of “competence”, reports CNN. “The competence [veut dire] that there will be no shortage. If you had the right people, you wouldn’t need so many people either. “
01/30/25 – 22:42 – 300 people mobilized on site from the crash, indicates the firefighters chief
“We will recover the remains of all the people” who died at the Mortal Crash, assured John Donelly, head of firefighters and emergency medical services in Washington. And this despite the particularly difficult conditions for divers, confronted with wind, ice, and kerosene on the water. 300 stakeholders from 21 different agencies have been mobilized on site since the collision, he said.
At the same time, the authorities are mapping the debris. “It is important not only to take out the victims, but also to preserve the evidence in order to discover the causes of this accident and, hopefully, to work for its prevention in the future,” he said, Interview cited by Cnn.
01/30/25 – 22:18 – What caused the collision between the plane and the helicopter?
Is the error human or mechanical? For the moment, it is too early to find out, said the NTSB (American Transport Safety Agency) at a press conference. “We don’t have much information at the moment”, and “we need time to check it”. A preliminary report giving the first elements on the causes of the drama should appear within 30 days, the agency said.
01/30/25 – 21:34 – The pilots of the military helicopter were experienced
According to the American media CNN, the helicopter pilot who struck an airplane counted approximately 1,000 hours of flight, and the co -pilot had about 500 hours, the army manager Jonathan Koziol, a retired aviation. They were therefore both experienced.
01/30/25 – 21:07 – The control tower was under staff at the time of the crash
According to a preliminary report of the FAA (American Aviation Regulatory Authority), obtained by the New York Timesthe staff of the control tower were “not normal for the time of day and the volume of traffic”. According to the newspaper, only a controller was responsible for giving instructions to helicopters and planes that took off and landed, against two normally.
01/30/25 – 21:01 – Bodies found on the drama website
According to a police source in CNN, bodies have been drafted in recent hours, after the collision of a plane and a military helicopter that caused a mortal crash. The wreckage mutilated in the Potomac river makes the recovery effort particularly difficult for the divers teams, who had difficulty accessing certain parts of the aircraft fuselage, specifies the American media.
01/30/25 – 20:59 – When will we have the results of the surveys?
The National Office of US Transport Security (NTSB) said at a press conference organize meeting later on Thursday with the Bombardier aircraft manufacturer, the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States or the American Airlines company to organize the investigation to determine the circumstances of the drama, reports Reuters. However, it will be necessary to be patient. A preliminary investigation report will be published within 30 days and a final report is expected within 12 to 18 months.