ARLINGTON, Va. — Salvage teams have extracted a significant portion of a commercial jet from the Potomac River near Washington’s Reagan National Airport on Monday, five days after a tragic midair collision that claimed the lives of 67 people.
Authorities stated that the recovery process will take several days, after which efforts will shift to retrieving the military helicopter involved in the crash.
The collision between an American Airlines jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter over Washington, D.C., on Wednesday marked the deadliest aviation disaster in the U.S. since 2001.
So far, officials have recovered and identified 55 of the 67 victims, and Washington, D.C., Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly expressed confidence that all remains will be accounted for. Early Monday morning, salvage crews were seen working from a vessel equipped with a crane.
At any given time, more than 300 personnel have been involved in the recovery operation, officials reported. Two Navy barges have also been deployed to assist in lifting heavy wreckage.
According to Col. Francis B. Pera of the Army Corps of Engineers, divers and salvage teams are strictly following established protocols and will immediately halt debris removal if human remains are found. Ensuring a “dignified recovery” remains the top priority, he emphasized.
The wreckage of both aircraft—the American Airlines jet carrying 64 passengers and the Army helicopter with three crew members—will be transported to a hangar for further investigation.
The crash occurred as the jet, traveling from Wichita, Kansas, was preparing to land, while the Black Hawk was conducting a training exercise. There were no survivors.
On Sunday, relatives of the victims were escorted by police to the Potomac River’s edge, near the site where the aircraft came to rest.
Among those aboard the jet were figure skaters returning from the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita and a group of hunters coming back from a guided trip. The Army helicopter crew consisted of Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara, 28, of Lilburn, Georgia; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39, of Great Mills, Maryland; and Capt. Rebecca M. Lobach, of Durham, North Carolina.
Federal investigators are working to determine what led to the collision. While full investigations often take a year or more, officials expect to release a preliminary report within 30 days.
Wednesday’s accident was the deadliest in the U.S. since November 12, 2001, when a jet crashed into a New York City neighborhood shortly after takeoff, killing all 260 people on board and five on the ground.
Despite such incidents, aviation experts emphasize that air travel remains exceptionally safe. However, the congested airspace around Reagan National Airport presents challenges even for experienced pilots.
On Saturday, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) revealed that preliminary data showed conflicting altitude readings for the two aircraft at the time of the crash.
Just a second before impact, data from the jet’s flight recorder indicated a shift in the plane’s pitch. Investigators have not yet determined whether this adjustment was an attempt to evade the collision.
The flight recorder showed the jet’s altitude at 325 feet (99 meters), with a margin of error of plus or minus 25 feet (7.6 meters), at the moment of impact. However, control tower data placed the Black Hawk at 200 feet (61 meters), the maximum permitted altitude for helicopters in that area.
The reason for this discrepancy remains unclear.
Investigators are working to reconcile the differences using data from the helicopter’s black box and refining the control tower’s readings, which can sometimes be less precise.
