The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) confirmed on Tuesday that an Army Black Hawk helicopter involved in a mid-air collision with an American Airlines flight on January 29, near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, was flying above its designated altitude limit.
Salvage crews have recovered the bodies of all 67 victims, officials confirmed. All but one of the bodies have been identified, according to a statement from various government agencies involved in the recovery effort.
The agencies described the completion of the search for remains as a “significant step” toward bringing closure to the families of those who died in the accident.
“Our hearts are with the victims’ families as they navigate this tragic loss,” the statement said. “We extend our deepest condolences and remain committed to supporting them through this difficult time.”
According to NTSB data, the helicopter was recorded at 300 feet, while the maximum allowable altitude for helicopters in the region is 200 feet. The air traffic control radar data, rounded to the nearest 100 feet, showed the helicopter could have been flying anywhere from 251 feet to 349 feet.
The tragic crash claimed the lives of 67 individuals, including all 60 passengers and 7 crew members aboard the American Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 jet, which was cleared for landing at Reagan National Airport at the time of the collision. The plane’s black box data revealed that the jet was flying at 325 feet and that the pilots made an effort to pull up to avoid the crash moments before impact.
The helicopter was part of a military training mission aimed at re-qualifying pilots for future flights in the area. However, the crash’s circumstances raise questions about why the Black Hawk was operating at such a high altitude in a controlled airspace typically used by commercial planes.
As per the Associated Press (AP), the NTSB has noted that investigators are still waiting to retrieve more information from the submerged helicopter to verify the exact altitude.
The wreckage from both aircraft is being recovered from the Potomac River, with authorities reporting that they have already retrieved significant parts of the plane, including the right wing, center fuselage, part of the left wing, tail cone, and rudder, as per Fox News. Crews continue working to recover the remaining wreckage of the passenger plane from the frigid waters before shifting focus to retrieving the Black Hawk helicopter.
A joint search and recovery operation, led by agencies like the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has been working under challenging conditions to recover all necessary wreckage.
The NTSB continues to investigate the incident, and though full investigations typically take longer, they anticipate a preliminary report within the next 30 days.
The crash is the deadliest in the US in over two decades, surpassing the 2001 crash of American Airlines Flight 587 in New York, which killed 265 people. The victims included 60 passengers on the American Airlines flight, with some being figure skaters returning from the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
The Black Hawk helicopter carried three soldiers, all of whom were also killed in the crash.
