The authorities recovered all the 67 victims of the Potomac River less than a week after an American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter in the Washington area, DC.
Search and recovery efforts have ended after the accident last Wednesday, with 66 people identified, according to a statement on Tuesday of DC officials. The main forensic doctor’s office is still working to identify the final victim.
The authorities described him as a “significant step” to achieve closure after the tragic collision.
“Our hearts are with the families of the victims as they sail for this tragic loss,” the statement said. “We extend our deepest condolences and remain committed to support them in this difficult time.”
The authorities will now resort to clean the remains of the Potomac River.
The National Transportation Board is still investigating the cause of the accident since Wednesday night, when the 5342 flight of American Airlines traveled from Wichita, Kansas, crashed with a black hawk helicopter from the army outside the Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia.
There were 64 people aboard the commercial flight, including many young Olympic aspiring who were traveling from an artistic skating contest and three soldiers in the helicopter.
There were a total of 28 people aboard the plane connected to ice skating, which includes coaches, athletes and their relatives, according to a statement of American artistic skating.
“They were incredible athletes, affectionate and solidarity family members, and coaches who worked tirelessly for their athletes,” said the interim artistic skating CEO of the United States, Samuel Auxier. “They were loved members of our world skating community, and we cried their loss together.”
A cabin voice recorder was recovered and a flight data recorder of the plane, and the black boxes are in a laboratory for evaluation, the NTSB said last week. All data from the American Airlines airplane devices are expected to be recovered.
The heavens were clear on the night of the accident, so it does not seem that the weather has played an important role in the cause of the collision.
There was only one air traffic controller in the control tower on the night of the accident, a source with knowledge of an internal preliminary report of the Federal Aviation Administration to News told NBC. That controller was driving helicopters and airplanes.
Usually, the tower has a separate controller that occupies exclusively with helicopter traffic, although FAA safety standards allow the combined position.
