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Washington air crash: Remains of all 67 victims recovered, 1 unidentified
The NTSB said it was examining new data that could put the helicopter above its 200-foot (61-meter) flight ceiling.
The remains of all 67 victims of last week's midair collision of an American Airlines flight and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter, near Washington DC's Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, have been recovered.
According to the authorities, all but one victim has been identified as of Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.
Earlier in the day, crews working in choppy conditions raised several large pieces of the jetliner from the Potomac River, including the right wing, the center fuselage, and parts of the forward cabin, cockpit, tail cone, and rudder.
Meanwhile, the NTSB said it was examining new data that could put the helicopter above its 200-foot (61-meter) flight ceiling. The airport's air traffic control screen — relying on radar sensors and other data — had it at 300 feet (91 meters), the agency said. However, that figure would have been rounded to the nearest 100 feet, according to authorities.
Investigators said they need to get more information from the still-submerged Black Hawk to verify the data.
The jet’s flight recorder showed its altitude as 325 feet (99 meters), plus or minus 25 feet (7.6 meters).
What led to the deadly Washington air crash?
The regional jet out of Wichita, Kansas, carried 60 passengers and four crew and was preparing to land. The UH-60 Black Hawk, based at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, was on a training exercise and carried three soldiers, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The skies were clear.
A few minutes before the Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ-700 series twin-engine jet was to land, air traffic controllers asked Flight 5342 if it could use a shorter runway. The pilots agreed. Controllers cleared the landing. Flight-tracking sites show the plane adjusted its approach to the new runway.
Less than 30 seconds before the collision, a controller asked the helicopter if it had the plane in sight. The military pilot said yes.
Moments later the controller made another call to the helicopter, apparently telling it to wait for the jet to pass. There was no reply from the army helicopter and the two aircraft collided, leading to 67 deaths.
