Aircraft crash in Washington: Investigators Bergen Flight writer

After the devastating aircraft crash in Washington with probably 67 deaths, the recovery of corpses runs and the search for the cause of the accident. Emergency forces combed the Potomac river in the US capital, where a passenger plane and a military helicopter had crashed after a collision in the air. They found other fatalities there. The authorities assume that there are no survivors.

There is still no official information about the cause of the devastating misfortune. US media reported irregularities in air traffic control at the time of the accident. There was no official confirmation for this. The NTSB accident investigation authority has started with investigations, but explicitly warned of premature conclusions and asked for patience. However, US President Donald Trump drew up with blame.

On Wednesday evening, a passenger machine collided with a military helicopter at Ronald-Reagan-Airport (DCA) on Wednesday evening. Both plunged into the water. There were 60 passengers and 4 crew members on board the aircraft. There were 3 crew members on board the helicopter. According to the authorities, all 67 people died in the accident.

Overnight, rescue workers with boats and divers in the ice-cold water of the Potomac river had feverishly searched for survivors-but without success. According to authorities, more than two dozen deaths were pulled out of the water in the first few hours after the accident. According to US media, further bodies were later recovered-more than 40 so far. Emergency services confidently expressed themselves to be able to recover all corpses in the end. However, this could take longer due to adverse conditions and the search in a larger area under water.

The flight writers of the crashed passenger machine have now been found. They would now be evaluated, reported several US media. Experts hope for knowledge about the cause of the accident. So far, there are no evidence of crime or terrorism.

The “New York Times” and other US media, citing an internal FAA report, reported that at the time of the collision, a air traffic controller was divided into two positions in the Ronald-Reagan-Airport control tower. In parallel, the pilot was responsible for helicopters near the airport as well as for aircraft on the runway and landingways. The allocation in the control tower was “for the time of day and the volume of traffic was not normal”.

There was no information from the accident investigation authority NTSB – and generally only a little information so far. According to the authority, there was a very quick impact of the passenger machine in the water and no evidence that, for example, rescue slides had been activated. NTSB investigators also announced that the helicopter was at a false flight altitude. Otherwise, however, they were very good with the content of their investigations.

“You have to give us time,” said the head of the agency Jennifer Homendy. The investigators had data and large amounts of information. To evaluate and verify them, take. The investigations had only started. Around 50 investigators are deployed at the scene of the accident.

Another NTSB representative, Todd Inman, also emphasized that the authority would not speculate in advance about the possible cause. The aim is to submit a preliminary report within 30 days.

US President Trump had previously complained that according to such ancillary, there was always far too long until there was information about its cause. “We don’t know what led to this crash,” said the president, “but we have some very strong opinions and ideas.” He gave it to the best, suggested a mistake by the helicopter pilot and co -responsible for the accident for the accident.

He argued that the helicopter could have throttled his pace or stopped completely, could change the flight altitude or turn off. “You could have done a million different maneuvers, but for some reason it just flew.” Trump complained that the crew members in the helicopter should “see where they fly”.

The President also complained that the air traffic control at the airport had pronounced a warning too late. He will ensure that only “the most competent people in the country” worked in control towers at airports. You should be “brilliant” in dealing with computers and graphics and “psychologically very, very clever”.

Trump shouted out against diversity programs in air traffic control. The programs at the U.S. Air Travel Agency FAA aimed at “hiring people with severe intellectual and psychological disabilities”. People with limited hearing or eyesight, lack of limbs, paralysis, epilepsy, severe intellectual disabilities and dwarf growth all qualified for the position of a air traffic controller. Trump also explicitly attacked the policy of his democratic predecessors Barack Obama and Joe Biden with a view to the flight supervision.

The passenger plane was a machine of the Airlines airline, which had started in the city of Wichita in the state of Kansas. The military helicopter was on a practice flight.

There were several figure skaters, coaches and their relatives on board the passenger machine. They were on the way back from a training camp that took place as part of the national championships in Wichita in Kansas, it said in a statement by the US ice skating association. Several of the victims were children or adolescents. Two Russian ex-world champions in pairs, who most recently worked as a coach in the USA, were also sitting in the machine. Trump said that people from several countries were on board – but at first he did not give any further details.