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D.C. Plane Crash Live Updates: Black Boxes Found As More Details Emerge About Air Traffic Control Tower Staffing

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D.C. Plane Crash Live Updates:  Black Boxes Found As More Details Emerge About Air Traffic Control Tower Staffing

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A preliminary investigation report into the crash that occurred between a commercial plane and a military helicopter Wednesday night reportedly showed the air traffic control tower staffing level at Ronald Reagan National Airport, where the passenger jet was headed, was “not normal for the time of day and level of traffic,” The New York Times reported.

Timeline

Jan. 31, 12:30 a.m. ESTThe FAA’s preliminary report on the incident noted that the staffing at the air traffic control tower was not “normal,” pointing to the fact that a single air traffic controller was handling both helicopter and plane traffic, the Associated Press reported.

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However, the federal body’s assessment was refuted by an unnamed source cited by the AP who was familiar with the matter and said the staffing at the tower was at a normal level.

The New York Times reported that the handling of airplane traffic and helicopter traffic is usually handled by two separate controllers until 9.30 p.m. everyday

However on Wednesday evening, an air traffic control supervisor merged the two jobs before 9:30 p.m. (the collision occurred shortly before 9:00 p.m. local time) and allowed one air traffic controller to leave early, the Times report added.

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Jan. 30, 11:30 p.m. ESTThe National Security Transport Board, which is investigating the crash, announced it had recovered the crashed plane’s cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder—which are sometimes referred to as “black boxes.” The two recorders were taken to the NTSB’s lab for evaluation.

Jan. 30, 5:40 p.m. ESTAbout 40 bodies had been recovered in the Potomac River, ABC News and CBS News reported, along with some partial remains, and investigators believe they have recovered all they can without moving the plane’s fuselage. CBS reported the search for remains will stop at dusk and pick back up tomorrow.

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Jan. 30, 5:15 p.m. EST Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said they do not yet have the list of plane passengers or know how many people from Wichita or Kansas were on the plane, but she said the National Transportation Security Board was working to inform all next of kin and told her the manifest could be out sometime tomorrow afternoon.

Jan. 30 President Donald Trump signed a memorandum on aviation safety that orders a review of federal aviation hiring and safety decisions to undo the “damage” Trump said was done by former President Joe Biden’s diversity policies, and while signing it he reiterated the unproven claim that diversity, equity and inclusion policies may have played a role in the crash.

Jan. 30, 2:15 p.m. ESTThe air traffic controller who was handling helicopters near the airport Wednesday night was also directing commercial planes in take off and landing, jobs that are usually assigned to two separate people, according to an internal preliminary Federal Aviation Administration safety report seen by the Times, which also reported the tower at the airport has been understaffed for years. CNN also reported the tower was understaffed and had one person doing two jobs, citing an unnamed air traffic control source.

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Jan. 30, 1:20 p.m. ESTArmy officials confirmed that two pilots of the helicopter—one man and one woman—and a male staff sergeant crew member were killed in the collision. Their bodies have been recovered.

Jan. 30, 12:15 p.m. ESTFormer Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called Trump’s claim the FAA was made unsafe by DEI hiring practices “despicable,” and criticized him for what he called his move to “fire and suspend some of the key personnel who helped keep our skies safe” (within a day of taking office, Trump had fired the head of the Transportation Security Administration and eliminated all the members of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee).

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Jan. 30, 11:30 a.m. ESTTrump, in a press briefing, boasted about an executive order he issued last week ending diversity, equity and inclusion hiring within the FAA, and suggested without proof that people with “severe intellectual disabilities” had been hired as air traffic controllers under the Obama and Biden administrations. He said only “naturally talented geniuses” would be hired for the job under his new policies. He later said “we don’t know that necessarily (the crash) is even the controller’s fault.”

When asked how he could have determined diversity hiring practices were to blame for the crash without evidence, Trump said, “because I have common sense. And, unfortunately, a lot of people don’t.”

Jan. 30, 11:24 a.m. ESTTrump appointed Chris Rocheleau, a 22-year veteran of the FAA currently serving as deputy administrator, as acting commissioner of the agency. The FAA has not had a chief since Mike Whitaker resigned on Jan. 20.

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Jan. 30, 11:20 a.m. ESTTrump confirmed there are no survivors in the crash and said called the incident a “real tragedy” while thanking the local first responders for being “so quick, so fast” to respond.

Jan. 30, 11 a.m. ESTFAA employees were not part of a sweeping buyout offer made by Trump to millions of federal employees earlier this week in an attempt to downsize the federal workforce, the Associated Press reported citing an anonymous source.

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Jan. 30, 10:30 a.m. ESTDefense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Army helicopter involved in the crash was was flying from Fort Belvoir, Va., was being flown by “a fairly experienced crew” and was conducting “a required annual night evaluation” flight.

Jan. 30, 8:10 a.m. ESTNewly appointed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy ignored a question from a reporter at a press conference Thursday morning asking if an acting director of the FAA has been appointed after the former chief, Whitaker, who was pressured for months by presidential confidant Elon Musk to resign, stepped down earlier this month.

Jan. 30, 8:10 a.m. ESTDuffy said the crash was “absolutely” preventable, adding that there was “not a breakdown” in communication between the military helicopter and the commercial plane, and that U.S. military helicopters routinely fly near the Potomac River.

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Jan. 30, 7:45 a.m. ESTWashington’s Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said emergency responders were switching over from a rescue to a recovery operation, adding “at this point we don’t believe there are any survivors.” Donnelly added that responders have recovered the bodies of 27 of the 64 people onboard the plane and one of the three people onboard the Black Hawk helicopter.

Jan 30, 7:40 a.m. ESTDuffy said authorities located both the crashed aircraft and the passenger plane’s fuselage, which was in split into three and found in waist-deep water in the Potomac River.

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Jan 29, 11:15 p.m. EST After the crash, all takeoffs and landings were halted at Reagan National and officials said operations at the airport will remain halted at least until 11:00 a.m. EST on Thursday.

Jan 29, 11:19 p.m. EST Trump posted about the incident on his Truth Social platform and questioned the helicopter operator and air controllers’ handling of the situation: “The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport. The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time. It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didn’t the helicopter go up or down, or turn. Why didn’t the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane. This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!”

Jan 29, 11:00 p.m. ESTWhite House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News host Sean Hannity that Trump has been briefed about the incident and both federal and local law enforcement are working “to try to save as many lives as possible.”

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Crucial Quote

“As one nation we grieve for every previous soul that has been taken from us so suddenly,” Trump said. “We are in mourning.”

What Do We Know About The Crash?

A Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet operated by PSA Airlines, a regional carrier owned by American Airlines, collided with a Black Hawk military helicopter while approaching the runway at Reagan airport for landing. The incident took place shortly before 9 p.m. local time according to the FAA. The Bombardier jet—which originated in Wichita, Kansas—was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members, American Airlines said, making the flight fairly full (a CRJ700 regional jet can usually seat between 60 and 80 passengers). The chopper involved in the crash was a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter carrying three people, Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser confirmed in a press conference after midnight on Thursday.

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What Do We Know About The Rescue And Recovery Efforts?

In press conference early on Thursday, Donnelly said the first units arrived at the scene at 8:58 p.m. local time, 10 minutes after they first received an alert, “and found an aircraft in the water and began rescue operations.” Donnelly said 300 emergency responders are on the scene and they are working on a “highly complex operation” due to “extremely rough” and windy conditions.

What Do We Know About The Number Of Casualties?

There were 60 people aboard the plane, along with four crew members, and three people in the helicopter. Officials said Thursday there are believed to be no survivors.

What Do We Know About The Passengers Onboard?

Details about the passengers on board the plane and the helicopter are limited. However, U.S. Figure Skating—the official governing body for figure skating in the country—said “several members” of its community were on the plane. “These athletes, coaches, and family members were returning home from the national development camp held in conjunction with the US figure skating championships in Wichita, Kansas.” Russian state news outlet TASS reported that a former world champion pairs figure skater duo from the country was also onboard the plane.

What Have Other Federal Officials Said About The Potomac Plane Crash?

Vice President J.D. Vance wrote on X: “Please say a prayer for everyone involved in the mid-air collision near Reagan airport this evening. We’re monitoring the situation, but for now let’s hope for the best.” Transport Secretary Sean Duffy announced he was “on site at the FAA HQ and closely monitoring the situation,” while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth noted the Pentagon was “actively monitoring” and is “poised to assist if needed.” Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, tweeted: “We are deploying every available US Coast Guard resource for search and rescue efforts in this horrific incident at DCA.”

Key Background

The area around Reagan National Airport is heavily congested and tightly controlled, with a busy airport sitting in close proximity to sensitive sites like the Pentagon and Washington, D.C. Serious crashes involving large passenger jets are exceedingly rare in the United States. Wednesday’s incident is the first fatal crash of a U.S. commercial airliner since the the Colgan Air crash in upstate New York in 2009, which killed 50 people. It is the deadliest aviation disaster in the U.S. since Nov. 12, 2001, when an American Airlines flight crashed in New York and killed all 260 people on board. The last crash on U.S. soil involving a commercial airliner took place in 2013, when a plane operated by South Korean carrier Asiana Airlines crashed in San Francisco, killing three people and injuring 187.

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Further Reading

U.S. And Russian Figure Skaters Onboard D.C. Plane—What We Know About The Crash Victims (Forbes)

Passenger jet collides with Army helicopter while landing at Reagan Washington National Airport (Associated Press)

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Boat Crew Spots Thousands of Dolphins in a California Bay ‘Superpod’

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Boat Crew Spots Thousands of Dolphins in a California Bay ‘Superpod’

On a small inflatable boat last Friday, Evan Brodsky and two co-workers with a whale-watching tour company were on the lookout for gray whales on the Pacific blue waters of Monterey Bay, along the central coast of California.

After four hours of searching, the team had spotted only one whale.

But instead of heading back to the harbor, as the team usually would, Mr. Brodsky, a boat captain and videographer with the tour company Monterey Bay Whale Watch, said he had an “itch” that there was something they could not yet see and decided to stay out on the water.

First, the team of three spotted about 15 dolphins swimming together. It followed the small pod, knowing that dolphins are highly social marine animals that usually travel in larger groups.

Some 30 minutes later, 15 dolphins had turned into hundreds. Then there were thousands.

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“I kind of just take a glance and scan the horizon, and maybe about a mile and a half from us the water literally looked like it was boiling,” Mr. Brodsky, 35, said. “It was foaming. There were so many dolphins there.”

In previous outings, Mr. Brodsky had seen pods of hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dolphins, but this was the first time that he had seen a gathering of so many northern right whale dolphins, mixed in with Pacific white-sided dolphins. In the past, he had seen only a few hundred of the species in one place.

Using his drone and past experience on the water, Mr. Brodsky estimated that there were more than 2,000 dolphins in the pod his team saw that Friday.

“The whole time we were just saying, ‘Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, this is so amazing, I can’t believe this,’” he recalled. While the team is on the water almost every day, Mr. Brodsky said that the sight of the dolphins still gave him “butterflies.”

A sighting of thousands of northern right whale dolphins in a single pod is rare, though the species is known to be gregarious and willing to congregate with others, said Dorian Houser, the director of conservation biology at the National Marine Mammal Foundation.

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“The groups I have typically encountered are much smaller,” Dr. Houser said, adding that he has also spotted them in the Monterey Bay.

Dr. Houser said that he suspected that there was an abundance of food for the dolphins on the day of the sighting, causing them to gather in such a large group. There is a canyon that runs through the bay, which makes the area a “fairly unique” place that is full of nutrients and attractive to wildlife, Dr. Houser said.

Among the uncommonly large grouping of the northern right whale dolphins, Mr. Brodsky said he and his co-workers had seen mothers and their calves, which he had witnessed only a handful of times before.

The whale watchers made sure not to disturb what he called a “superpod” of dolphins by keeping a safe distance and navigating parallel to them. But at times, the dolphins would swim right next to their boat.

Mr. Brodsky had seen other superpods before, including about a month ago when he captured video of about 1,500 Risso’s dolphins in the Carmel Bay, which is south of Monterey Bay. Even so, “it’s like the first time every time” he sees the large groups swimming together.

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“It’s the best feeling,” Mr. Brodsky said. “It’s indescribable.”

Christina Morales contributed reporting.

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Japan births fall to lowest in 125 years

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Japan births fall to lowest in 125 years

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The number of babies born in Japan last year fell to the lowest level since records began 125 years ago as the country’s demographic crisis deepens and government efforts to reverse the decline continue to fail.

Japan recorded 720,988 births in 2024, according to preliminary government figures published on Thursday.

The number has declined for nine straight years and appears to be largely unaffected by financial and other government incentives for married couples to produce more children.

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The 2024 figure is a 5 per cent drop from the previous year and the lowest since records began during Japan’s Meiji era in 1899.

Combined with a record 1.6mn deaths last year, the figures mean Japan’s population shrank by almost 900,000 people, net of immigration figures.

In 2023, Japan’s then-prime minister Fumio Kishida warned that the country stood on the verge of “whether we can continue to function as a society” because of its shrinking and ageing population.

Japan’s demographics are increasingly skewed, with a rapidly declining cohort of young people having to support the health and social security costs of a country with massive public debt. About 30 per cent of the population is aged over 65.

Government agencies have introduced increasingly radical measures to reverse the decline, including an experiment by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to let employees work a four-day week.

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Japan’s falling birth rate contrasts to South Korea, which reported a rise in the fertility rate for the first time in nine years on Wednesday, helped by a surge in marriages.

Some demographic experts had been hopeful of a pent-up baby boom in Japan following the pandemic, but the decline in births has continued unabated.

A 2011 study by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research had not expected the number of births to fall to 720,000 until 2039.

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The Supreme Court just handed the Trump administration a win on USAID

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The Supreme Court just handed the Trump administration a win on USAID
  • The Supreme Court halted a lower court’s order for Trump to release USAID funds.
  • Chief Justice John Roberts granted the stay but provided no reason for the decision in the ruling.
  • This stay gives the Supreme Court time to evaluate the case and decide whether the Trump administration must release funds.

The Supreme Court issued a ruling on Wednesday night that halted a lower court’s order for President Donald Trump to release funding for the US Agency for International Development.

In its February 26 ruling, the SCOTUS blocked a court order from District Judge Amir Ali related to two cases brought against the Trump administration by aid organizations including the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition and the Global Health Council.

Ali’s ruling on the cases would have compelled the Trump administration to release foreign aid dollars to grant recipients and USAID contractors by midnight on Wednesday.

But the SCOTUS halted Ali’s decision after attorneys for the Trump administration on Wednesday said in a court filing that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has already “made a final decision” on what organizations to award funds to.

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Sarah Harris, the acting solicitor general, appealed to the SCOTUS on Wednesday to vacate the lower court’s order. In her filing, Harris said that the “district court’s imminent and arbitrary deadline makes full compliance impossible.”

Harris added that the lower court’s order required the administration to disburse “nearly $2 billion by 11:59 p.m.”

“These payments cannot be accomplished in the time allotted by the Court and would instead take multiple weeks,” Harris wrote.

Chief Justice John Roberts granted the administrative stay but provided no reason for the decision in the ruling. Roberts has given the plaintiffs who sued the administration until Friday to respond.

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The SCOTUS’ stay now gives the court time to evaluate and rule on the Trump administration’s request.

USAID was one of the first targets of the Department of Government Efficiency.

The cuts to USAID come after Trump, in a January 20 executive order, called for a 90-day freeze on foreign aid. That executive order and other actions have affected thousands of US workers.

Judges other than Ali have made rulings that slowed the Trump team’s attempts to dismantle USAID.

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On February 7, Judge Carl Nichols issued a temporary restraining order that paused the administration’s USAID staff reductions. But USAID suffered a major court loss on February 21 when Nichols allowed headcount cuts to go ahead, reversing his previous order.

In 2024, USAID distributed close to $32.5 billion in aid, primarily to causes in Africa and the Middle East.

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