Families Visit Site of Deadly U.S. Air Collision “`

ARLINGTON, Va. — On Sunday, relatives of the victims of the worst U.S. air disaster in almost 25 years visited the crash site just outside Washington, D.C.

Scores of people walked along the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport, near the Wednesday collision site of an American Airlines jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter, which killed all 67 people on board.

They arrived by bus with police escort, remembering their loved ones as federal investigators try to understand the crash and recovery crews retrieve more debris from the cold water.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated Sunday that he wished to allow federal aviation investigators space for their investigation.

However, he raised several questions about the crash during appearances on morning news shows.

“What was happening inside the towers? Were they understaffed? … The position of the Black Hawk, the elevation of the Black Hawk, were the pilots of the Black Hawk wearing night vision goggles?” Duffy asked on CNN.

The American Airlines flight, carrying 64 passengers, was approaching landing from Wichita, Kansas. The Army Black Hawk helicopter, on a training mission, had three soldiers aboard. Both aircraft crashed into the Potomac River after colliding.

The plane’s passengers included figure skaters returning from the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas, and a group of hunters returning from a guided trip.

Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara, 28, of Lilburn, Georgia; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39, of Great Mills, Maryland; and Cpt. Rebecca M. Lobach, of Durham, North Carolina, perished in the helicopter crash.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced Saturday that preliminary data revealed conflicting readings regarding the altitudes of the airliner and the Army helicopter.

Investigators also reported that approximately one second before impact, the jet’s flight recorder indicated a change in its pitch. However, they did not confirm whether this change indicated an evasive maneuver.

Data from the jet’s flight recorder showed its altitude at 325 feet (99 meters), plus or minus 25 feet (7.6 meters), at the time of the Wednesday night crash, NTSB officials told reporters. However, control tower data indicated the Black Hawk was at 200 feet (61 meters), the area’s maximum permitted helicopter altitude.

This discrepancy remains unexplained.

Investigators stated they aim to resolve the discrepancy using data from the helicopter’s black box, which retrieval is taking longer due to water damage. They also intend to refine the tower data, which can be less precise.

“That’s what our job is, to figure that out,” NTSB member Todd Inman said.

“This is a complex investigation,” lead investigator Brice Banning said. “There are a lot of pieces here. Our team is working hard to gather this data.”

Banning mentioned that the jet’s cockpit voice recorder captured sounds just before the crash.

“The crew had a verbal reaction,” Banning said, and the flight data recorder showed “the airplane beginning to increase its pitch. Sounds of impact were audible about one second later, followed by the end of the recording.”

Complete NTSB investigations typically take at least a year; however, investigators aim for a preliminary report within 30 days.

Inman stated he spent hours meeting with victims’ families since the crash. Inman described the families’ struggles.

“Some wanted to give us hugs. Some are just mad and angry,” Inman said. “They are just all hurt. And they still want answers, and we want to give them answers.”

By Saturday afternoon, the remains of 42 individuals had been recovered from the river, including 38 positively identified, officials said. They expect to recover all remains; however, retrieving the rest may require removing the plane’s fuselage from the water.

Officials reported that over 300 responders participated in the recovery effort at any given time. Two Navy salvage barges were also deployed to lift heavy wreckage.

On Fox News Sunday, Duffy said the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was investigating Reagan Airport control tower staffing.

Investigators stated five controllers were on duty during the crash: a local controller, ground controller, assistant controller, a supervisor, and a supervisor in training.

According to an FAA report obtained by The Associated Press, one controller managed helicopter and plane traffic. This task is often divided between two people, but the airport typically combines them at 9:30 p.m. after traffic slows. On Wednesday, the tower supervisor combined these duties earlier, which the report termed “not normal.”

“Staffing shortages for air traffic control has been a major problem for years and years,” Duffy said, promising that President Donald Trump’s administration would address shortages with “bright, smart, brilliant people in towers controlling airspace.”

Adding to the nation’s grief, an air ambulance crashed in Philadelphia on Friday, killing all six people on board, including a child returning home to Mexico from treatment, and at least one person on the ground.

Also on Friday, the FAA severely restricted helicopter traffic around Reagan National, hours after Trump claimed on social media that the Army helicopter had been flying higher than permitted.

“It was far above the 200-foot limit. That’s not really too complicated to understand, is it???” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Wednesday’s crash was the deadliest in the U.S. since Nov. 12, 2001, when a jet crashed into a Queens, New York residential area shortly after takeoff from Kennedy Airport. The crash killed all 260 people on board and five on the ground.

Experts consistently emphasize the overwhelmingly safe nature of air travel; however, the congested airspace around Reagan National poses challenges even for experienced pilots.