Washington DC plane crash latest: ‘Black box’ cockpit voice and flight recordings recovered from wreckage – UK Times

A crane used to remove parts of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after it collapsed March 2024, in Baltimore, Maryland, is being brought in to help with recovery efforts in Washington D.C.

Teams are bringing a US Coast Guard crane to the Potomac River to help reach victims who are in a section of the wreckage that divers can’t get to, a law enforcement source told CNN.

The crane is already en route from Baltimore and will be used to cut and lift pieces of the airplane to allow divers to safely recover additional victims, CNN reported.

The Black Hawk helicopter that collided with the passenger jet during the DC air disaster on Wednesday night may not have been travelling along its approved flight path, the New York Times has reported.

According to sources who spoke to the masthead, the helicopter was supposed to be flying in a different location and lower to the ground as it crossed the Reagan National airspace.

The masthead reported that several people with knowledge of the investigation said the helicopter, carrying three people, was flying too high and outside of its approved path.

China offered deep condolences over the Washington air disaster, the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a post on Friday on its official website.

The post added that two Chinese citizens were killed in the crash and China is providing assistance to their relatives.

Senator Lisa Murkowski ripped President Donald Trump’s comments blaming disability and diversity hires for the airplane-helicopter crash.

The Alaska Republican’s words come after Trump blamed Diversity, Equity and Inclusion practices for the crash near Reagan National Airport that killed 67 people. Specifically, the president criticized the Federal Aviation Administration’s recruitment program for people with intellectual disabilities.

Murkowski told The Independent exclusively that she felt awful for the families and everyone involved.

“I don’t know about you, but when I saw the when I saw the news of the crash last night and just waking up this morning and watching the briefing, your heart just goes out, not only to the families who lost loved ones, but to everybody who was part of that,” she said.

“Think about just the heartache of all of this,” she said. “So to to see a statement like that, where, without full, without full information about, really, what happened, other than a massive casualty, to suggest that it was, it was to be blamed because of the diversity hire, I think, I think, does not project, the level of empathy that we need to show for those who lost their loved ones.”

Georgia governor Brian Kemp sent his “deepest condolences: to the families and friends of Ryan O’Hara and Sam Lilley, who both died in Wednesday’s collisions.

“Both of these young Georgians shared a passion for flight and for serving others, and this terrible tragedy is that much more difficult knowing their lives were cut so unexpectedly short,” Kemp wrote on X.

“Marty, the girls, and I ask that all Georgians join us in keeping their loved ones in our thoughts and prayers.”

O’Hara was part of the crew on the helicopter, while Lilley was piloting the passenger plane.

A young civil rights attorney on her way home to Washington D.C. from Kansas was among the 64 people that died on the passenger plane.

Kiah Duggins, 30, worked as an attorney for the Civil Rights Corps. She had been in Wichita to be with her mother during a surgical procedure, according to KMUW.

Duggins’ family members confirmed to the outlet on Thursday that she was onboard the flight.

Her father, Maurice Duggins, said in a statement: “We are coming to terms with the grief associated with the loss of our beautiful and accomplished firstborn. Please respect our family’s privacy at this time.”

Multiple near-misses involving helicopters near DCA had been recorded in the three years before Wednesday’s deadly crash, CNN reports.

Federal incident reports reviewed by the outlet, showed at least two other pilots reported near-misses with helicopters while landing at the airport.

On two occasions, in April 2024 and October 2022 respectively, passenger planes had to take evasive action to avoid colliding with a helicopter, according to reports filed by pilots.

In a third incident in September 2022, two military helicopters got too close together, an air traffic controller reported.

Ice skating legends Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding have given emotional responses to the devastating deaths of fellow figure skaters in the Washington DC plane crash.