Advertisement
Aviation accidents
WorldUnited States & Canada

Families visit crash site days after deadliest US air disaster since 2001

Dozens walked along banks of Potomac River outside Washington where a commercial jet and army helicopter collided on Wednesday, killing 67

4-MIN READ4-MIN
An American Airlines jet passes as families of the victims of last week’s mid-air collision stand near the crash site at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia on Sunday. Photo: AP
Associated Press

Families of victims of the deadliest US air disaster since 2001 visited the crash site on Sunday just outside Washington, walking along the banks of the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport to memorialise their loved ones.

Dozens of people arrived in buses with a police escort close to where an American Airlines jet and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter collided on Wednesday, killing all 67 aboard the two aircraft. Federal investigators were working to piece together the events that led to the crash while recovery crews were set to pull more wreckage from the chilly water.

Transport Secretary Sean Duffy on Sunday said he wanted to leave federal aviation investigators space to conduct their inquiry.

Advertisement

But he posed a range of questions about the crash while appearing on morning television news programmes.

“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.

Advertisement
The American Airlines flight with 64 people on board was preparing to land from Wichita, Kansas. The army helicopter was on a training mission and had three soldiers on board. Both aircraft plunged into the Potomac River after colliding.
Advertisement
Select Voice
Select Speed
1.00x