DC plane crash: Potomac River divers' search for bodies complicated by conditions out of their control

As betterment efforts connected the Potomac River proceed aft a midair collision betwixt an Army chopper and an American Airlines plane connected Wednesday night, a Virginia rescue diver and firefighter shed airy connected the challenges divers whitethorn beryllium facing successful the frigid waters. 

A full of 64 people, including passengers and formation unit members, were aboard AA Flight 5342 from Wichita to Reagan National Airport (DCA). Three soldiers were conducting a grooming cognition connected the Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk that came from Fort Belvoir successful Virginia. 

All 67 radical onboard some craft are presumed dead. As of Friday afternoon, authorities said they had recovered 41 sets of remains and identified 28 of those victims.

"This is incredibly unusual. You know, we're trained and ever acceptable to reply the call…when the dive telephone comes in. But that's typically involving 1 victim. And successful uncommon occasions, a mates of victims," Jake Crockett, a firefighter and diver with the Scuba Rescue Team of Chesterfield Fire & EMS, told Fox News Digital. 

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Emergency effect units hunt the clang tract of the American Airlines level connected the Potomac River aft the level crashed connected attack to Reagan National Airport connected January 30, 2025 successful Arlington, Virginia. A subject chopper collided with the level connected Wednesday. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

"But thing of this magnitude, you know, having 67 radical to relationship for, on with 2 craft and each the debris is conscionable it's incredibly retired of the ordinary. It's thing that, nary doubt, nary of them nor myself could person predicted."

Crockett believes the betterment ngo could past weeks, yet helium is hopeful that each the victims volition beryllium accounted for successful the adjacent respective days. 

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"Obviously, they're making truly bully advancement successful a abbreviated magnitude of time. But I'm definite that betterment of the victims should beryllium the fig 1 priority… providing closure to these families that person mislaid their loved ones should beryllium the astir important thing," Crockett said. 

"Once that is completed, past recovering the 2 aircraft and past besides uncovering arsenic overmuch of the debris from the collision that they tin successful the river," helium added. "That is what is astir apt going to instrumentality the longest…they're going to beryllium looking for each azygous piece, each seed and bolt that they perchance tin for the investigation."

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FBI agents basal adjacent debris, aft a Black Hawk chopper collided with American Airlines formation 5342 portion approaching Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and crashed into Potomac River, successful Arlington, Virginia, U.S. January 30, 2025.   (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

Crockett said divers are apt to look a multitude of challenges successful the Potomac River, with the largest being h2o visibility. 

"It's going to beryllium zero visibility oregon adjacent to zero is that they'll beryllium diving in, and truthful looking for tiny parts of an craft successful that benignant of visibility is going to beryllium highly challenging…the waters present and the lakes and ponds and rivers…when you spell in, it's conscionable dark," helium said. "You trust 100% connected interaction and successful your training, you autumn backmost connected your grooming of doing close hunt patterns, truthful that you don't miss anything. You're conscionable touching everything that you tin get your hands connected and feeling it and trying to place it."

Without the quality to spot successful specified a ample assemblage of water, Crockett explained that definite exertion similar sonar tin assistance divers observe ample objects underwater but added that determination are limitations involved.  

"At the extremity of the day, each the technology, it conscionable gives you determination to look," helium said. "Someone volition person to spell down determination to inactive recover, to inactive verify that this is thing related."

Crockett noted that the river's somesthesia whitethorn besides beryllium an obstacle for divers during the betterment mission. 

"The h2o somesthesia particularly is conscionable supra freezing, which is, you know, it would beryllium perfectly unbearable to leap successful without, you know, without the due diving suits," helium said. "Even with due PPE, you tin lone enactment successful that h2o for truthful agelong earlier you commencement to suffer dexterity successful your hands, which would interaction your searching."

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Crockett said there's "no telling" however acold remains from the wreckage whitethorn reach. 

"The Potomac is, is massive, you know, from wherever they are, it goes hundreds of miles each the mode retired to the Chesapeake Bay," helium said. "It's a river, truthful it has a current…that's different origin for the divers getting in."

Crockett explained that the river's current whitethorn beryllium a important origin for respective reasons, including divers needing to combat the existent and feeling "fatigue" arsenic a result, and the travel of h2o perchance moving astir victims' remains and wreckage debris. 

"They've got a truly large occupation up of them, which is wherefore I deliberation this is going to beryllium weeks-long, due to the fact that successful bid to beryllium thorough, they're going to beryllium up and down that stream for miles looking," helium said.

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Search and rescue efforts are seen astir a wreckage tract successful the Potomac River from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, aboriginal Thursday morning, Jan. 30, 2025, successful Arlington, Va.  (Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo)

What primitively began arsenic a hunt and rescue effort Wednesday turned to a betterment ngo erstwhile officials believed there were nary survivors.

"Once it's turned implicit to a betterment mission…our extremity is to supply that closure," Crockett said, adding that the victims' families "need to beryllium capable to decently hide their loved 1 and grieve and mourn successful an due way." 

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Crockett added that if his squad were called upon to assistance successful the betterment efforts, they would beryllium prepared for the challenge. 

"The archetypal responder household is monolithic and everyone's ever willing," helium said. 

Fox News' Audrey Conklin and Greg Norman contributed to this report.