The family members of the victims of the deadliest U. Ten charter buses with a police escort transported the family members to the banks of the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport, close to where an American Airlines jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided Wednesday, killing all 67 aboard. Meanwhile, federal investigators are working to piece together the events that led to the crash and recovery crews are set to pull more wreckage from the chilly water.
The American Airlines flight, with 64 people on board was preparing to land from Wichita, Kansas. The Army Black Hawk helicopter was on a training mission and had three soldiers on board. Both aircraft plunged into the Potomac River after colliding. The plane's passengers included figure skaters returning from the U. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas, and a group of hunters returning from a guided trip. Army Staff Sgt. Rebecca M. Lobach, of Durham, North Carolina, were killed in the helicopter.
The remains of 42 people had been pulled from the river as of Saturday afternoon, including 38 that have been positively identified, officials said. They expect to recover all of the remains, though the plane's fuselage will probably have to be pulled from the water to get the rest. The National Transportation Safety Board said Saturday that preliminary data showed conflicting readings about the altitudes of the airliner and the Army helicopter.
Investigators also said that about a second before impact, the jet's flight recorder showed a change in its pitch. But they did not say whether that change in angle meant that pilots were trying to perform an evasive maneuver to avoid the crash. Data from the jet's flight recorder showed its altitude as feet 99 meters , plus or minus 25 feet 7.
Data in the control tower, though, showed the Black Hawk at feet 61 meters , the maximum allowed altitude for helicopters in the area. Investigators said they hoped to reconcile the difference with data from the helicopter's black box, which is taking more time to retrieve because it became waterlogged after the Black Hawk plunged into the Potomac. They also said they plan to refine the tower data, which can be less reliable. Our team is working hard to gather this data. Sounds of impact were audible about one second later, followed by the end of the recording.
