Washington, D.C
Washington DC plane crash live: flight data and cockpit voice recorders recovered, officials say
Key events
What caused this tragic aviation disaster is not yet known, but the National Transportation Safety Board investigators has said it will have a preliminary report within 30 days.
Despite the lack of clarity, newly inaugurated US president Donald Trump has accused his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden of lowering hiring standards and suggested the Federal Aviation Administration’s diversity push could have weakened its capabilities.
The comments come as president Trump has pushed back against what he has described as the “woke policies” of his predecessor.
Asked if the crash was caused by diversity hiring, he said: “It just could have been.”
The Trump administration has not provided any proof to back these assertions, and there is no evidence that efforts to make the federal workforce more diverse have compromised air safety.
Following the crash, Trump signed an executive order on aviation safety that rolls back diversity initiatives and repeated claims without evidence that those initiatives contributed to Wednesday’s fatal collision.
Satellite images of earlier recovery efforts
A closer view below:
A satellite image shows runway 33 and crash recovery operations in progress in the Potomac River after a Black Hawk helicopter struck the American Eagle Flight 5342, an American Airlines passenger jet, near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 30, 2025. Photograph: Maxar Technologies/Reuters
It’s almost 10pm in Washington DC, and almost 24 hrs since a fatal mid-air collision between a regional passenger jet and a US Black Hawk military helicopter – a tragedy that has been described as one of the worst aviation disasters in the US in decades.
There were 67 people on board both aircraft, and there are no survivors.
Washington’s fire and emergency department said its divers had searched all accessible areas and would conduct additional searches to locate aircraft components on Friday.
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of Wednesday’s night’s collision between a regional passenger jet and a military helicopter near Washington DC’s Reagan airport.
The flight data and cockpit voice recorders have been recovered from the American Airlines flight, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has announced, and they are now at the NTSB’s labs for evaluation.
The NTSB said earlier on Thursday that it was too soon to determine the causes of the disaster and pledged to release a preliminary report within 30 days.
Early scrutiny focused on an initial Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) report on the incident which called the staffing levels at a DC air control tower “not normal,” since one controller was reportedly handling both helicopters and planes.
But the Associated Press and CNN have both reported that sources told them this level of staffing was, in fact, “normal” or “not uncommon.” The FAA has long struggled with a shortage of air traffic controllers and identified fatigue as a factor that might lead to mistakes, the Associated Press noted.
Here’s a summary of other developments:
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With the 67 people aboard both the American Airlines flight and the army Black Hawk helicopter all presumed dead, the collision is being called “the deadliest aviation disaster” in the US since 2001. At least 28 bodies have been recovered from the Potomac River, with recovery operations ongoing.
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A day before Wednesday night’s midair collision near Reagan airport, a different jet there had to abort its landing and make a second approach after a helicopter appeared near its flight path, the Washington Post reported.
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The US army saw an increase in very serious aviation incidents during the last fiscal year, with 15 flight and two ground incidents that resulted in deaths of service members, destruction of aircraft, or more than $2.5m in damage to the airframe, the Associated Press reported,
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Donald Trump and members of his administration claimed, without evidence, that diversity efforts at the FAA under the Biden and Obama administration could be to blame for the crash, with Trump specifically claiming that the FAA had been accused of being “too white,” and suggesting efforts to hire Americans with disabilities were irresponsible.
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Trump signed an executive order that rolls back diversity initiatives to stop “woke policies” in federal aviation.
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The Trump administration’s choice to draw an unfounded connection between a deadly tragedy and diversity initiatives at a press conference sparked broad condemnation from Democratic politicians. They called the comments “disgusting,” “despicable,” and “racist,” with Democratic minority leader Hakeem Jeffries saying that Trump was “blaming women and people of color for the deadly plane crash.”
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As many as 14 skaters and coaches, including two 16-year-olds and a married pair of world champions, were onboard the American Airlines plane. The Skating Club of Boston said Jinna Han and Spencer Lane, both aged 16, and the Russian-born ice skating coaches and former world champions Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who were husband and wife, were on the flight.
Washington, D.C
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson heads to D.C., set to talk about responding to immigration raids
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson headed to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to speak at the National Press Club luncheon.
The mayor plans to talk about the challenges of leading Chicago this past year, and what city officials learned about resisting federal overreach and responding to federal immigration raids in the city.
“I’m obviously very much still concerned about the private, masked, terrorizing police force that the Trump administration continues to sic on working people across this country,” said Mayor Johnson said Tuesday. “It’s why I’ve used every single tool available that’s available to me, and many mayors have looked to those tools that we’ve used, whether it’s through the ICE-free zones, and even the litigation around ICE-free zones, so that we can strengthen and codify our ability to enforce it.”
Mayor Johnson said the next step has to be “real organized resistance, as what we saw organized and prepared during the Civil Rights Movement.”
“We cannot just simply leave it to protests that just react to the egregious and the harmful and deadly actions coming from the Trump administration,” Johnson said.
Johnson is in Washington to attend the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Meanwhile, Mayor Johnson also said he is extremely proud of how Chicago handled the 2024 Democratic National Convention. But he is concerned that if the city were awarded the 2028 convention, it would not receive the federal help needed for security for the event.
“You know, the Democratic National Convention would take place at a time in which the Trump administration will still be in charge, and what we’ve seen in cities across America — and more recently Minneapolis — that to turn over our security to the Trump administration, it’s not just me,” said Johnson. “There are a number of us that have profound concerns about that.”
In 2024, Chicago received a $75 million grant from the federal government for security costs.
Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Las Vegas, and San Antonio are also believed to be bidding to host the political convention in 2028.
Washington, D.C
‘My nightmare’; Kentucky woman sues DC to access OUC’s 911 calls in son’s sudden death
WASHINGTON (7News) — A grieving mother from Kentucky is suing Washington, D.C., to uncover the truth about her son’s sudden death.
Was it preventable? Did 911 operators make a mistake?
Those are the questions she’s desperate to answer, but her attempt to access the city’s emergency calls has been denied.
“It’s a struggle to keep moving forward and be a part of the world,” Stephanie Clemans, holding back tears, said during a Tuesday press conference.
RELATED | Off-duty DC firefighter recounts survival, call for accountability after he was shot
William Ostertag, known by friends and family as Will, was 28 when he was working in his apartment’s gym on November 3, 2024. He lived at the Allegro Apartments in Columbia Heights in Northwest, D.C.
Suddenly, he went into cardiac arrest and collapsed.
“I’m his mom, and I wasn’t there, and I want to know what happened,” Clemans said.
What she does know is that Will lived right next door to a D.C. Fire and EMS firehouse where paramedics could’ve come to his aid almost immediately.
Yet, according to the lawsuit below, it took them nine minutes.
By then, it was too late. Will had already lost oxygen to his brain and died 11 days later.
“My son was living, making plans, and successfully navigating adulthood. I am so completely proud of him,” Clemans said.
So what happened in those critical moments before his death?
Well, Clemans obtained a written timeline from the 911 dispatch system that shows dispatchers misclassified the original response as a “seizure”, sending an ambulance not equipped with the drugs on board that Will needed for a cardiac arrest.
But the Office of Unified Communications (OUC) has denied her requests for the 911 calls, falling back on their policy of only releasing 911 audio to the original caller.
“My nightmare is that my vibrant, very much alive son died, and people with power are saying to me that I do not have the right to hear what was happening as he lay on the ground,” Clemans said.
Kevin Bell, her lawyer and a partner at the Freedom Information Group, says her Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request appeal was also denied by Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of Legal Counsel. A decision, he urges them to reconsider.
“I believe, looking at this case, that this is a pretext to attempt to avoid producing records, which are potentially embarrassing to the department and which would provide information that might reflect negatively on the performance of their statutory duties… I believe that this is an instance where government can do the right thing. They can release the information that’s been requested.”
RELATED | Transparency concerns emerge over DC 911 feedback form now requiring caller phone number
Will grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, and had a little brother.
He lived in D.C. for three years, working for the federal government. He’d just applied for several MBA programs. He lived a full life, suddenly cut short, with a mom determined to get answers about his death.
“This audio recording will help me understand the end of my son‘s life, and it is necessary for me to have it,” Clemans said.
Clemans is scheduled to testify as a public witness in Wednesday’s D.C. Council Performance Oversight Hearing on OUC virtually at 9:30 a.m.
7News reached out to OUC and the Mayor’s Office for a comment on the lawsuit ahead of Cleman’s testimony.
As of this report, we have not heard back.
RELATED | ‘It’s nothing new’; DC firefighters rerouted twice after OUC dispatch errors
WASHINGTON (7News) — D.C. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton announced Tuesday she will retire at the end of her current term, ending more than three decades representing the District.
Norton, a Democrat, has served as D.C.’s delegate since 1991.
In a statement, she said she is stepping aside to make room for the next generation of leaders while continuing to serve through the remainder of her term.
“I’ve had the privilege of representing the District of Columbia in Congress since 1991. Time and again, D.C. residents entrusted me to fight for them at the federal level, and I have not yielded,” Norton said. “With fire in my soul and the facts on my side, I have raised hell about the injustice of denying 700,000 taxpaying Americans the same rights given to residents of the states for 33 years.
RELATED | DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton ends re-election campaign
Norton is known for her long-standing fight for D.C. statehood and equal rights for District residents.
Although she will not seek reelection, Norton said she plans to remain active in advocating for D.C. after leaving office.
“The privilege of public service is inseparable from the responsibility to recognize when it’s time to lift up the next generation of leaders. For D.C., that time has come. With pride in all we have accomplished together, with the deepest gratitude to the people of D.C., and with great confidence in the next generation, I announced today that I will retire at the end of this term.”
Before Congress, Norton said she helped plan the 1963 March on Washington, served as chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, argued cases before the Supreme Court and taught law at Georgetown University.
“Thank you to my constituents for choosing and trusting me to fight for you in Congress 18 times,” Norton said. “I will leave this institution knowing that I have given you everything I have. And while my service in Congress is ending, my advocacy for your rights, your dignity, and your capacity to govern yourselves is not.”
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