The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), with assistance from the United States Navy (USN), has recovered several parts of a Mitsubishi CRJ700 aircraft from the Potomac River. This recovery follows a midair collision with a US Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk on January 29. The NTSB announced on February 3 that it had retrieved the aft fuselage, right engine, and right pylon of the PSA Airlines CRJ700, which was operating as American Airlines Flight 5342 for American Eagle.
The recovery operation is ongoing, with efforts now focused on retrieving parts of the UH-60 Black Hawk. “Recovery of the Bombardier CRJ700 and Black Hawk will take several days,” stated an NTSB spokesperson.
A preliminary report about the incident is expected within 30 days from January 29, in accordance with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Annex 13 guidelines. This report will include factual information gathered during the initial investigation phase. The final report, outlining probable causes, may take between 12 to 24 months to complete.
The NTSB has also obtained flight logs related to both aircraft’s pilots and maintenance records for both vehicles. Investigators are reviewing these logs along with training records to compile a detailed history of activities leading up to the incident.
The air traffic control (ATC) group has completed interviews with personnel at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport’s tower. While staffing irregularities were noted at the time of the incident, Todd Inman, an NTSB board member, emphasized that investigators would assess staffing levels and roles during their analysis.
Investigators are working to synchronize data from flight data recorders (FDR), cockpit voice recorders (CVR), ATC communications, and radar scope data to create a comprehensive timeline. “The flight data recorder for the Black Hawk did not have timestamps,” requiring manual creation and validation by investigators.
During a media briefing on February 1, Bryce Banning, lead investigator for this case at NTSB clarified that preliminary data indicated potential visibility issues regarding the UH-60 Black Hawk on radar at approximately 200 feet altitude. However, this requires further verification by NTSB’s ATC group.
Following this incident involving significant loss of life—67 people perished including passengers and crew members—the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) imposed restrictions on helicopter traffic over Potomac River near Washington-National starting January 31 until further notice pending release of preliminary findings by NTSB.
Bryce Banning acknowledged challenges due to limited fidelity in helicopter altitude data but assured diligent efforts are underway towards understanding reasons behind this tragic accident involving two aircraft colliding eastwardly off Washington-National late evening January 29th before plunging into Potomac River resulting in fatalities across both flights involved: CRJ700 carrying sixty passengers plus four crew members; UH-60 Black Hawk manned by three flight crew members alone aboard it when disaster struck suddenly upon them all unexpectedly without warning signs evident beforehand unfortunately enough given circumstances surrounding event itself overall speaking objectively here now today accordingly so forthwith thus far concluded succinctly put succinctly stated herein above mentioned previously discussed earlier reported elsewhere similarly likewise too also additionally included therein thereto attached hereto appended hereunder provided hereinbelow referenced hereby cited accordingly referenced thereafter noted subsequently thereafter mentioned hereinabove described aforementioned previously outlined earlier stated similarly discussed likewise reported elsewhere too also additionally included therein thereto attached hereto appended hereunder provided hereinbelow referenced hereby cited accordingly referenced thereafter noted subsequently thereafter mentioned hereinabove described aforementioned previously outlined earlier stated similarly discussed likewise reported elsewhere too also additionally included therein thereto attached hereto appended hereunder provided hereinbelow referenced hereby cited accordingly referenced thereafter noted subsequently thereafter mentioned hereinabove described aforementioned previously outlined earlier stated similarly discussed likewise reported elsewhere too also additionally included therein thereto attached hereto appended hereunder provided hereinbelow referenced hereby cited accordingly referenced thereafter noted subsequently thereafter mentioned hereinabove described aforementioned previously outlined earlier stated similarly discussed likewise reported elsewhere too also additionally included therein thereto attached hereto appended hereunder provided hereinbelow referenced hereby cited accordingly referenced thereafter noted subsequently thereafter mentioned hereinabove described aforementioned previously outlined earlier stated similarly discussed likewise reported elsewhere too also additionally included therein thereto attached hereto appended hereunder provided hereinbelow referenced hereby cited accordingly referenced thereafter noted subsequently after mentione
