Newsman: the American Airlines regional jet and US Army Black Hawk helicopter collided midair Wednesday night .All 67 people on board are presumed dead. There were 64 passengers aboard the American Airlines flight — which was flying from Wichita, Kansas — and three Army soldiers in the Black Hawk helicopter, officials said.
The aircraft went down in the frigid Potomac River, breaking into multiple pieces. There were no survivors.
Among the victims were 14 people who were returning home from a national figure skating development camp in Wichita, according to Doug Zeghibe, the CEO and executive director for the Skating Club of Boston.
“Skating is a tight-knit community where parents and kids come together six or seven days a week to train and work together. Everyone is like family,” Zeghibe said in a statement.
The National Transportation Safety Board will allow first responders do their jobs first, before it starts its investigation into the deadly collision, the board’s chair said on Thursday.
NTSB Chair Jennifer L. Homendy called it an “all hands on deck event.”
She said this is the first day the NTSB has had a full crew on the scene, with about 50 people at the site of the crash as well as other personnel ready to assist at the agency’s headquarters and labs around the country.
But first, “we allow the responders to do their important safety mission, which in this case was search and rescue and recovery,” she said. “We stand back to allow them to do their important safety mission.”
Homendy emphasized that the NTSB will “leave no stone unturned in this investigation” and that it would be a “whole of government effort.” The agency’s chair added that she briefed President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance earlier today.
“We are going to conduct a thorough investigation of this entire tragedy, looking at the facts,” she said.
Homendy said the agency would provide more information as it is uncovered.
