American Airlines jet’s black box recovered from wreck amid fears air traffic control ‘mistake’ could have led to crash

BLACK boxes have been recovered from the American Airlines jet that plunged into a river after colliding with a helicopter in Washington DC.

Investigators are probing what caused the crash that left 67 dead amid questions over staffing and other close calls at the airport.

ReutersNTSB investigators work on the black box of American Eagle flight 5342[/caption]

EPARescue teams search the wreckage of the plane[/caption]

AFPInvestigators gather pieces of wreckage along the Potomac River[/caption]

Divers dredged up two black boxes from the passenger jet in the Potomac River on Thursday.

The boxes record flight data and what the pilots say – and could be crucial in offering clues about what caused the disaster.

A preliminary report is expected to be issued in 30 days, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said.

Both boxes were transported to one of the board’s labs on Thursday to be analyzed following the horror crash on Wednesday night.

All 64 people on the CRJ700 airplane were killed, as well as the three crew members on the Black Hawk chopper.

It comes as…

All 64 passengers are feared dead with at least 28 bodies pulled from river

CCTV captures moment of the crash

Chilling audio reveals the final moments of flight

World champion figure skaters confirmed to be on board

Figure skater shared final, tragic picture from inside the plane before takeoff

Husband reveals wife’s final text from doomed jet

Rescue efforts hindered by freezing & dark conditions with 12 hours before severe weather comes

American Airlines CEO blames Black Hawk pilots

Trump blames Obama and Biden’s DEI polices at FAA for crash

American Airlines pilots and crew named

Passenger names beginning to be released, including teens, parents, and coaches

Divers now aim to “salvage the aircraft” and find additional components.

Authorities have not pinpointed a reason for the collision, which happened as the regional jet was trying to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

But air traffic control staffing numbers were “not normal”, according to an initial Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) report.

The controller who was directing helicopters was also instructing planes, The New York Times reported.

These jobs are typically assigned to two people.

It has also emerged at least two other pilots reported near-misses with helicopters while landing at the airport in the three years before the deadly crash.

A passenger flight had to abort a landing at the airport just a day before the tragedy.

Republic Airways Flight 4514 was forced to back out of touching down and had to make a second approach after a helicopter appeared near its flight path, the Washington Post reported. 

Radio communications from Wednesday night’s disaster meanwhile showed that air traffic controllers alerted the helicopter about the approaching jet and ordered it to change course.

EPAEmergency crews at the scene in DC[/caption]

A newly-engaged pilot, a group of friends on a hunting trip, and teenage figure skaters were among the victims aboard the American Airlines plane.

Three soldiers on the Black Hawk, including a new dad from Atlanta, died when the military helicopter smashed into the passenger jet that had traveled from Wichita, Kansas.

The plane shattered into three pieces, and both aircraft sank into the inky black waters just before 9 pm ET on Wednesday.

Hopes for survivors quickly faded as rescue crews worked through the night in dark, cold conditions.

Authorities yesterday confirmed there were no survivors – making this the deadliest US air crash since November 2001, when 260 people died after a plane plunged into a Queens neighborhood.

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said the pilot of the American Eagle Flight 5342 had about six years of flying experience.

The Bombardier jet was operated by PSA Airlines, a regional subsidiary.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the helicopter was flown by a “fairly experienced crew” of three soldiers who were wearing night-vision goggles on an annual training flight.

Officials said they were grounding other flights from the Army unit involved in the crash and would reevaluate training exercises in the region.

Young figure skater Spencer Lane, 16, is among those who were killed in the horrific Washington DC plane crashInstagram/spencerskates26

GettyHis coaches, married Russian skaters Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, seen competing in 1995, were also killed[/caption]

Jinna Han, 13, was killed in the crash that’s claimed 67 livesReuters Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]