Salvage crews pulled large chunks of crashed American Eagle Flight 5342, including an engine, from the Potomac River on Monday.
Sixty passengers and four crew members aboard the flight were killed Wednesday night when the plane collided with a Black Hawk chopper carrying three soldiers near Washington D.C.’s Reagan National Airport. Authorities said 55 of the 67 victims had been recovered in the days after the mid-air crash. It was the deadliest U.S. aviation disaster since 2001.
Workers planned to spend several days fishing the rest of the commercial airliner from the water before trying to retrieve the military helicopter. Investigators hope black box recordings from the aircraft will help them figure out why the jet and the chopper crossed paths.
President Trump blamed his predecessor Joe Biden and certain minority hirings as possible reasons for the disaster. One of the soldiers aboard the chopper was a female, though it’s unclear what her role in the crash might have been.
The president appointed Chief Operating Officer for the National Business Aviation Association Christopher James Rocheleau to serve as the acting administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration the day after the collision. Former FAA boss Mike Whitaker left his post on Inauguration Day after being pressured to resign by Trump mega-donor and self-described “First Buddy” Elon Musk.
Newly appointed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he’s “in the process of developing an initial plan to fix” the FAA.
“I do believe that God puts us exactly where we’re supposed to be,” he said as the investigation began.