Investigators share update on American Airlines plane crash as all ‘major pieces’ are recovered

'All major pieces' of the American Airlines plane and Black Hawk helicopter have been recovered for 'further examination', it has been confirmed.

On January 29 at 8.47pm ET, an American Airlines passenger plane - flight 5342 - and a US military helicopter collided mid-air over the Potomac River, close to the Ronald Reagan National airport in Washington D.C.

The passenger plane was carrying 64 passengers and crew and had traveled from Wichita, Kansas, while the army helicopter - a Sikorsky H-60 Black Hawk carrying three crew - had taken off from Fort Belvoir, Virginia. All 67 were killed in the accident.

An update as of February 8 on the National Transportation Safety Board's website reads: "​​​All major pieces the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) RJ Aviation (Bombardier) CRJ700 and the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk involved in the Jan. 29 mid-air collision near Ronald Reagan National Airport have now been recovered to a secure airport facility for further examination and documentation.

"Investigators will be looking for witness marks on the aircraft that could provide clues to the angle of collision. Teams also recovered the CRJ’s Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) and retrieved additional avionics from the Black Hawk."

It also states a 'National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration TopoBathy lidar survey from a manned NOAA aircraft was conducted this morning and identified multiple underwater targets that could be additional aircraft debris' and the targets were investigated by divers who 'will continue that work this week'.

'All major pieces' of the American Airlines and helicopter crash have been recovered (Twitter/@NTSB_Newsroom)

The American Airlines Flight 5342 recorder showed a difference in reported altitude readings between the plane and helicopter upon collision.

According to the NTSB, data recovered from the flight recorder inside the plane claimed it was cruising at about 325 feet, with a 25 foot margin of error on either side, despite air traffic control tower data suggesting the military helicopter was flying at an altitude of about 200 feet when it collided with the commercial plane.

The approximate 100 foot discrepancy remains unaccounted for.

The wreckage is being investigated (Twitter/@NTSB_Newsroom)

On Thursday, the helicopter's black box was extracted from the Potomac River and The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) later confirmed both aircrafts' black boxes had been recovered 'in good condition'.

It's hoped the flight data from the Black Hawk’s black box may provide answers to the conflicting altitude recordings and a preliminary report of the crash is expected to be issued within 30 days, the NTSB states.

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