Members of the US Coast Guard and other personnel involved in removing the wreckage of the American Airlines passenger plane and the US Army Black Hawk helicopter are being provided with 24/7 access to psychological first aid.
The American Airlines engine and fuselage have now been lifted from the Potomac River and personnel are now preparing to remove the Black Hawk helicopter, hoping to recover the rest of the 67 victims of the Washington DC mid-air collision.
In a press conference, US officials said they were preparing to find more remains as they recover more aircraft wreckage and will be focusing on the cockpit.
“Today was a very successful day, for the most part,” US Army Corps of Engineers Colonel Francis Pera told reporters.
The number of victims identified still stands at 55, according to DC Fire Assistant Chief Gary Steen, and he says his team is yet to identify more remains found during their recovery efforts on Monday.
“These remains, as well as remains that have been recovered previously, are in the process of being positively identified,” Asst Chf Steen said.
Officials believe the remaining victims are still within the wreckage.
In a post on the US Coast Guard’s X account, they thanked all those who have “expressed concern for the wellbeing of our US Coast Guard responders” playing a key role in the recovery.
The post went on to say: “The Coast Guard is dedicated to ensuring our members have 24/7 access to both Coast Guard Chaplains as well as our Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) team members who are trained to provide psychological first aid during major incidents.”
All three crew members on board the US Army helicopter have now been named and they include Staff Sergeant Ryan Austin O’Hara, 28, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39, and the third crew member to die while performing the training mission near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on 29 January is Captain Rebecca Lobach.
Air traffic control audio tapes from before and after the crash have revealed the final moments of communication between ATC and the Black Hawk, and contain some key details aircraft crash investigators will now be looking into.
Minutes before the crash, the pilot flying the Black Hawk checks in on the radio frequency, simply saying “PAT 25 Memorial,” and the air traffic controller in the tower acknowledges with “PAT 25 roger”.
Moments later, ATC then warns the military pilot about an inbound aircraft preparing to land, saying: “Traffic [American Airlines passenger plane] just south of the Woodrow Bridge, a CRJ, it’s 1,200 feet setting up for Runway 33.”
The Black Hawk pilot responds with: “PAT 25 has the traffic in sight, request visual separation.”
The air traffic controller immediately responds with “visual separation approved” – this will be key in the investigation.