Washington DC plane crash: Black box from commercial flight recovered; 28 bodies pulled out | Latest updates

Washington DC plane crash: The passenger plane was carrying 64 people and the Black Hawk had three aboard.

Washington DC plane crash: A passenger jet collided with an Army helicopter while approaching Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington DC on Wednesday. Both the flight and the helicopter plummeted into the Potomac River.

Washington DC plane crash: A diving team and police boat is seen around a wreckage site in the Potomac River from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) (AP)

While 28 bodies were pulled from the crash site, US President Donald Trump told a White House news conference that no one survived.

The passenger plane was carrying 64 people and the Black Hawk had three aboard. All of them were killed in the crash – the first major in the United States since 2009.

Washington fire chief John Donnelly said a large-scale and "highly complex" recovery operation was launched immediately after the incident. Boats were still on the water, looking for victims and wreckage.

Washington plane crash: Latest updates

• Authorities have recovered “one of the ‘black box’ recorders from flight AA5342 from the Potomac River. The device, which contains flight data and cockpit voice recorders, will be a key piece of evidence for understanding what happened on the flight.
• At least 28 bodies, including all three soldiers who were on the helicopter, have been pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River as recovery operations continue.
• One air traffic controller was responsible for coordinating helicopter traffic and arriving and departing planes when the collision happened, according to a report by the Federal Aviation Administration obtained by The Associated Press.
• The staffing was “not normal,” the report said. However, a person familiar with the matter said the staffing at the air traffic control tower on Wednesday night was at a normal level, according to AP.

Emergency response units work at the crash site of the American Airlines plane on the Potomac River after the plane crashed last night on approach to Reagan National Airport on January 30, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. (AFP)

• US President Donald Trump, at a news conference, said that it appeared that the crash could have been avoided.
• Trump also, without any evidence, blamed the initiatives of Barack Obama and Joe Biden administration for the incident.
• "They actually came out with a directive: 'too white.' And we want the people that are competent," the US president said at a press conference, referencing to the hiring at Federal Aviation Administration by previous administrations.
• Among the passengers on the aeroplane were members of the Skating Club of Boston who were returning from a development camp that followed the 2025 US Figure Skating Championships in Wichita.
• Three students from schools in Fairfax County, Virginia, and six parents from the district also were on the plane.
• Dramatic audio from air traffic controllers showed them repeatedly asking the helicopter if it had the passenger jet "in sight," and then just before the crash telling it to "pass behind" the plane.