Washington plane crash: Authorities recover flight recorders

China has expressed "deep condolences" over a plane crash in Washington and offered "sincere sympathies" to the families of the victims.

"China has requested the US side to promptly update it on the progress of the search and rescue operations, swiftly clarify the cause of the accident and properly handle follow-up matters," said a Foreign Ministry spokesperson in Beijing.

Two Chinese citizens were among the victims of a midair crash in Washington between a US commercial airliner with 64 people on board and a military helicopter, according to the ministry.

Cockpit voice and flight data recorders have been recovered from the plane that crashed in Washington, D.C., according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

"NTSB investigators recovered the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the Bombardier CRJ700 airplane involved in yesterday's midair collision at DCA," board spokesperson Peter Knudson said late on Thursday.

"The recorders are at the NTSB labs for evaluation."

The agency has also begun the process of collecting wreckage, including parts of the helicopter, and storing it in a hangar at Reagan National Airport. 

US investigators said it will take time to understand what caused a deadly midair collision between a passenger jet and a military helicopter over Washington, D.C.

"We conduct an important safety mission where we take a very careful approach," National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) chair Jennifer Homendy told journalists.

"We look at facts... and that will take some time."

Meanwhile, NTSB board member Todd Inman also said there would be no immediate conclusions about the cause of the disaster.

The statements come after US President Donald Trump earlier in the day blamed the crash on the helicopter's pilots, night-vision goggles and diversity hiring, without providing any evidence.

During his Thursday press conference, Donald Trump announced that he had appointed a new acting director to head the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which is in charge of controlling US skies.

US Air Force veteran Chris Rocheleau has been tapped by Trump to lead the department, which he was part of for 20 years before becoming chief operating officer of the National Business Aviation Association, a lobbying group. 

On January 20, the previous director, Mike Whitaker, stepped down early from his five-year posting after Elon Musk demanded he resign.

Musk, Trump's biggest donor, one of his closest advisors, and the owner of Space X — a private space company with massive government contracts — complained about Whitaker's oversight of rocket launches.

Whitaker had been unanimously confirmed as FAA boss in October 2023. The post of FAA administrator has been vacant for the past 10 days as a result of his resignation.

Reading from prepared remarks, President Donald Trump on Thursday expressed sympathy for the families of the victims who died in Wednesday's Washington DC plane crash before quickly shifting focus to imply that the policies of his predecessors Barack Obama and Joe Biden were to blame for the crash because they had "politicized" the hiring of air-traffic controllers.

Venting frustration, Trump claimed DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) policies had led to hiring "people with severe psychiatric and intellectual disabilities" as air-traffic controllers. He railed against former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, too, saying he was a terrible leader with "a good line of bullshit."

Trump then moved on to second-guessing pilots at length before introducing his new secretaries of transportation and defense as well as the vice-president. 

The three echoed Trump's own assessment that DEI hiring policies were to blame for the tragedy and praised his leadership. None offered evidence to back their claims.

When confronted by reporters with the question of how he could be so sure that DEI hiring policies were to blame for the crash, Trump said he didn't have any evidence but that "it could have been," later saying his assessment was based on, "common sense." 

Asked if he felt it comforted the mourning families of victims to blame DEI hiring policies for the crash before an investigation had even begun, Trump called the question stupid and moved on.

Former President Barack Obama expressed his sorrow over Wednesday's crash with a post on the social media platform X.

"Michelle and I," he wrote, "send our prayers and condolences to everyone who is mourning today, and we're grateful to the first responders who are doing everything they can to help under extremely difficult circumstances."

Skating Club of Boston CEO Doug Zeghibe on Thursday confirmed that a number of accomplished figure skaters were among those killed in Wednesday evening's crash. 

Two teen skaters, Jinna Han and Spencer Lane, and their mothers were among the victims, as were 1994 pairs world champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov.

A total of 14 skaters were on the flight, according to Zeghibe, who said the incident would "have long-reaching impacts for our skating community." 

Russians Shishkova and Naumov had been coaching at the prestigious Boston club since 2017. Their 23-year-old son Maxim, a former US junior champion, was originally feared to have been on the plane with them. He was not.  

Spencer Lee, the 2025 intermediate eastern sectionals champion, posted to his thousands of social media followers late Wednesday: "I am so happy to have qualified for national development camp earlier in November. It has been my goal almost ever since I became aware that it was a thing. I learned so much new information that I can apply to my everyday life, and met so many amazing people."

The enthusiastic post was followed by one of him onboard his doomed American airlines flight shortly before take-off.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the US Army helicopter involved in the overnight collision involved a "fairly experienced crew."

Hegseth said the crew had been operating with night vision goggles on a training flight, as the Pentagon ordered a 48-hour pause in flying for the unit involved.

It remains unclear what caused the crash. 

In a video statement, Hegseth said that the crew of three was on an annual proficiency training flight.

"We anticipate that the investigation will quickly be able to determine whether the aircraft was in the corridor and at the right altitude at the time of the incident," Hegseth said.

The helicopter came from the 12th Aviation Battalion, based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia, with the unit to be grounded for 48 hours, Hegseth said. 

Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration are set to join a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation of the midair collision. The NTSB is leading the investigation.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the investigation would seek to provide all answers for bereaved relatives and air passengers in general.

"I would just say that everyone who flies in American skies expects that we fly safely," Duffy said. "That when you depart an airport, you get to your destination."

"That didn't happen last night and I know that President Trump, his administration, the FAA, the DOT [Department of Transport], we will not rest until we have answers for the families and for the flying public. You should be assured that when you fly, you're safe."

US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy says the wreckage of the jet involved in the collision had broken and been found in three pieces.

"The fuselage of the American Airlines plane was inverted," said Duffy. "It's been located in three different sections. It’s in about waist-deep water, so that recovery is going to go on today."

Duffy added that both the American Airlines jet and the military helicopter had been on a "standard flight pattern." 

"If you live in the DC area, you will see helicopters up and down the river," he said during a morning news conference.

"The American Airline flight coming in to land was in a standard flight pattern as it was coming into DCA, so this was not unusual with a military aircraft flying the river and aircraft landing at DCA," Duffy, who was sworn in earlier this week, said.

"We have early indicators of what happened here and I will tell you with complete confidence we have the safest airspace in the world," Duffy added.

Washington, DC Fire Chief John Donnelly says he believes there were no survivors in the collision between the plane and the helicopter.   

Donnelly said the bodies of 27 people from the plane had been recovered and one from the helicopter. 

"At this point we don't believe there are any survivors," Washington Fire Chief John Donnelly told a news conference at the capital's Reagan National Airport.

"We are now at a point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation."

The plane was carrying 64 people, while there were three soldiers aboard the Blackhawk helicopter.

Figure skating groups have reacted to news that passengers on the jet included a group of figure skaters, their coaches and family members. They had been returning from a development camp that took place after the US Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas. 

The organization US Figure Skating confirmed that "several members of the skating community" were on the flight, without providing more details.

"We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims' families closely in our hearts," the organization said. "We will continue to monitor the situation and will release more information as it becomes available."

The sport's international governing body said the global skating community was "deeply shocked" and heartbroken.

"Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this tragedy. Figure skating is more than a sport — it's a close-knit family — and we stand together," the International Skating Union said in a statement.

The Kremlin has confirmed that Russian citizens were on board a plane that crashed in Washington after "sad reports" that a champion skater couple were among them.

"We unfortunately see that these sad reports are being confirmed. Our other fellow citizens were there," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

He expressed his "condolences to the families and friends" of the Russians on board.

Russian figure skaters and coaches Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov are believed to have been aboard the American Airlines plane, possibly along with their son, Maxim.

US media outlets have reported that bodies have been recovered from the water after the collision of a passenger jet and military helicopter.

CBS News quoted a police official as saying "at least 18 bodies were recovered." Broadcaster NBC said "more than a dozen" had been found, citing two sources.

The midair crash happened over the partially frozen Potomac River near the airport.

 

Air traffic control audio has recorded the final moments before and after the crash.

A recording from LiveATC.net, a respected source for in-flight sound capture, captured the final communications between three crew members of the Blackhawk helicopter — call sign PAT25 — before the collision with the Bombardier CRJ-701 twin-engine jet. 

"PAT25, do you have a CRJ in sight? PAT25, pass behind the CRJ," an air traffic controller said at 8.47 p.m. local time on Wednesday (01:47 GMT/UTC on Thursday).

Another aircraft called in to air traffic control seconds later, saying, "Tower, did you see that?" — apparently referring to the collision.

"Crash, crash, crash, this is an alert three," one of the air traffic controllers can be heard saying. 

"I don't know if you caught earlier what happened, but there was a collision on the approach into [runway] 33. We're going to be shutting down operations for the indefinite future," another controller remarked.

"Both the helicopter and the plane crashed in the river," a third air traffic controller is heard saying.

"I just saw a fireball and then it was just gone. I haven't seen anything since they hit the river. But it was a CRJ and a helicopter that hit."