Monday, February 3, 2025 - More victims of the deadly American Airlines and Black Hawk helicopter crash have been recovered and identified.
Washington DC Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly
announced Sunday evening that 55 of the 67 victims of America's deadliest crash
since 2001 have been identified, an increase from the 42 that were previously
identified.
Authorities will now continue to search the Potomac River
for the remains of every other person onboard Flight 5342 Wednesday
night, which included entire families, young ice skaters, a college
student, and all four crew members.
Donnelly said he believes crew members will eventually
recover the remains of the 12 other victims of the doomed flight, but they are
unsure where the bodies may be, NBC News reports.
'If we knew where they were, though, we would already have
taken them out,' he insisted. 'So we have some work to do as this salvage
operation goes on, and we will absolutely stay here and search until such point
as we have everybody.'
'Reuniting those lost in this tragic incident is really what
keeps us all going,' Col. Francis B. Pera of the Army Corps of Engineers added.
Crew members are also scheduled to undertake a 'lifting
operation' on Monday to remove the wreckage from the river.
Portions of the aircraft will then be loaded onto flatbed
trucks and taken to a hangar for further investigation.
More than 300 responders are taking part in the recovery
effort at any given time, officials said. Two Navy salvage barges were also
deployed to lift heavy wreckage.
But the recovery efforts have proved to be challenging thus
far, as Donnelly confirmed that a diver with the Metropolitan Police Department
had to be transported to a local hospital for hypothermia.
He has since checked himself out of the hospital.
'We're happy to report that he's doing fine, and that's the
only injury we have today,' the chief reported.
An unidentified firefighter working the scene,
however, told reporter Brian Entin he and others are 'emotionally
wiped out after seeing the horror up close.'
The firefighter explained that the water was 'actually very
clear' and with their flashlights, 'they saw horrible things when they
arrived.'
It has since been revealed that the Black Hawk helicopter it
collided with may have been flying hundreds of feet outside air traffic
control's predesignated, approved route for the international airport,
just outside of the nation's capital.
The Black Hawk was supposed to be following 'Route 4' - a
known path at Reagan National that allows helicopters to fly at altitudes below
200 feet to avoid commercial jets arriving at the Virginia airport -
sources told The New York Times.
However, the military aircraft, which was marked as a
PAT-25, was flying above 300 feet and was at least a half-mile off course when
it collided with American Airlines Flight 5342 on Wednesday evening, killing
everyone onboard.
0 Comments