All major pieces of plane and helicopter in mid-air collision in Washington DC have been recovered, say crash investigators
All major pieces have now been recovered of the passenger plane and US army helicopter which collided in mid-air in Washington DC last week, say safety officials.
Sixty-seven people were killed in the 29 January disaster which left both aircraft in the Potomac River after they plunged into the water. The remains of all the victims have been recovered. There were no survivors.
Salvage crews have been working to recover the wreckage of the American Airlines jet and the Black Hawk helicopter.
Wreckage from the collision. Pic: NTSB
Their black boxes have been found and crash debris is now in a hangar in Arlington, Virginia, as the probe continues.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said: “Investigators will be looking for witness marks on the aircraft that could provide clues to the angle of collision.”
On Saturday, a plane equipped with lasers flew low over the crash scene as it scanned the bottom of the river. Crews will spend the coming days looking for smaller debris before finishing the work in around a week.
At the time of the disaster, American Airlines Flight 5342, carrying 60 passengers and four crew, was preparing to land at nearby Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, while the Sikorsky helicopter, with three pilots on board, was on a training exercise.
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The jet’s flight recorder showed its altitude as 325ft (99m), plus or minus 25ft (7.6m).
The helicopter was flying at 300ft (91m), which was 100ft (30.5m) over the maximum allowed for that route, the NTSB has said.
Wreckage has now been placed in a hangar. Pic: NTSB
An investigator inspects wreckage from the crash. Pic: NTSB
Key safety system turned off
Earlier this week, it emerged that a key safety system was turned off on the helicopter.
Senate commerce committee chairperson Ted Cruz, who has been briefed by investigators, said the Black Hawk had switched off its automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B), which is allowed for military aircraft.
ADS-B is an advanced surveillance technology to track aircraft location. Mr Cruz said the helicopter had a transponder so it would appear on radar but ADS-B is much more accurate.
“This was a training mission, so there was no compelling national security reason for ADS-B to be turned off,” Mr Cruz said.
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Also, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has started reviewing airports with high numbers of mixed helicopter and plane traffic nearby after Mr Cruz said he had wanted a safety review.
President Donald Trump on Thursday blamed the collision on what he called an “obsolete” computer system used by US air traffic controllers and vowed to replace it.
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He has also linked a diversity drive at the FAA under previous governments to the crash.
It has since been said there is no evidence to support the president’s claim.
Last week’s crash was the deadliest US air disaster since 12 November 2001, when a jet hit a New York City neighbourhood soon after take-off, killing all 260 people on board and five on the ground.
Vladimir Putin told Donald Trump he “will not back down” from Russia’s goals in Ukraine during a phone call today, the Kremlin has said.
The Russian president spoke to his US counterpart for almost an hour, and Mr Trump “again raised the issue of an early end to military action” in Ukraine, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
In response, Mr Putin said “Russia will not back down” from its aims there, which include “the elimination of the well-known root causes that led to the current state of affairs,” Mr Ushakov said.
The phrase “root causes” is shorthand for Moscow’s argument that it was compelled to invade Ukraine in order to prevent the country from joining NATO.
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Ukraine and its European allies say this is a pretext to justify what they call an imperial-style war, but Mr Trump has previously shown sympathy with Russia.
At the same time, Mr Putin told the US president that Russia is ready to continue negotiating, the aide said.
The Russian president said any prospective peace deal must see Ukraine give up its NATO bid and recognise his country’s territorial gains.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, seen with Mr Trump in June, is pushing for Ukraine to join NATO. Pic: Reuters
He also briefed Mr Trump on agreements made last month, which saw Russia and Ukraine exchange prisoners of war and dead soldiers.
Specific dates for the third round of peace talks in Istanbul were not discussed – nor was the US decision to halt some shipments of critical weapons to Ukraine.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump’s call came after the Pentagon confirmed some weapons due to be sent to Ukraine have been held as it reviews military stockpiles.
The paused shipments include air defence missiles and precision-guided artillery, two people familiar with the situation have said.
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The decision led to Ukraine calling in the acting US envoy to Kyiv on Wednesday to underline the importance of military aid from Washington.
Kyiv also cautioned that the move would weaken Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against intensifying Russian airstrikes and battlefield advances.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump’s phone call was the sixth they have publicly disclosed since the US president returned to the White House in January.
Donald Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’ has been passed by the US congress, sending it to the president to sign into law.
The controversial tax breaks and spending cuts package cleared its final hurdle as the Republican-controlled House of Representatives narrowly approved the bill with a 218-214 vote.
The bill delivers tax breaks Mr Trump promised in his 2024 election campaign, cuts health and food safety programmes, and zeroes out dozens of green energy incentives.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), it will lower tax revenues by $4.5trn over 10 years and add $3.4trn to the US’s $36.2trn debt.
But despite concerns over the 869-page bill’s price tag – and its hit to healthcare programmes – Republicans largely lined up in support, with just two rebelling on the vote.
House Speaker Mike Johnson is congratulated following the vote. Pic: Reuters
Every Democrat in Congress voted against the bill, blasting it as a giveaway to the wealthy that will leave millions of Americans uninsured.
House Speaker Mike Johnson made the Republicans’ closing argument for the bill, telling Congress: “For everyday Americans, this means real, positive change that they can feel.”
Earlier, the House’s Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries gave a record-breaking eight-hour and 44-minute speech against it.
“The focus of this bill, the justification for all of the cuts that will hurt everyday Americans, is to provide massive tax breaks for billionaires,” he said.
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The bill’s spending cuts largely target Medicaid, the health programme that covers 71 million Americans on low incomes.
It will tighten enrolment standards, institute a work requirement and clamp down on a funding mechanism used by states to boost federal payments.
The changes could leave nearly 12 million people without health insurance, according to the CBO.
On the other side of the ledger, it will stave off tax increases that were due to hit most Americans at the end of the year, when tax cuts from President Trump’s first term were due to expire.
It also sets up new tax breaks for overtime pay, seniors and tipped income.
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The bill narrowly passed the US Senate on Tuesday after vice president JD Vance cast the deciding vote to break a 50-50 tie.
Mr Trump will sign it into law on Friday at 5pm local time (10pm in the UK), the White House said.
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