Army Identifies Two Soldiers Who Lost Their Lives in Helicopter-Plane Collision; Black Box Successfully Recovered

On January 31, the Army named two of the three soldiers who perished in the incident involving an American Airlines jet near Ronald Reagan National Airport.

The family of the third soldier has requested privacy regarding their identity at this time.

Recovery teams have located the body of Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara, the flight’s crew chief. However, the bodies of Chief Warrant Officer Andrew Lloyd Eaves and the unnamed third soldier have yet to be found.

According to Jonathan Koziol, Army Aviation Directorate chief of staff, the soldiers were engaged in flight training when the crash occurred.

Koziol noted that the instructor was a highly experienced pilot with over 1,000 hours logged in flight time.

Investigators announced on Friday that they have recovered the black box from the Army Black Hawk helicopter that collided with the commercial jet and crashed into the Potomac River. They are currently analyzing that flight data recorder along with two others recovered from the passenger jet.

No survivors were found from the collision that occurred Wednesday night. John Donnelly, chief of Fire and Emergency Medical Services for Washington, stated on January 31 that recovery teams had recovered the remains of 41 passengers and had identified 28. Notifications have been made to the next of kin of 18 families, and he anticipates that all remains will be retrieved.

The American Airlines flight was carrying 60 passengers alongside four crew members. The helicopter held three soldiers on board.

Although Ronald Reagan National Airport has reopened, two of its three runways remain closed to prevent aircraft from flying over the crash site, according to Terry Liercke, the airport’s vice president and manager. Approximately 100 flights were canceled on Friday.

The Federal Aviation Administration has implemented strict restrictions on helicopter operations around the airport, as stated by the Department of Transportation, just hours after President Donald Trump mentioned via social media that the Army Black Hawk was flying at an altitude higher than permitted.

Investigators have retrieved the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the American Airlines jetliner, which collided with the helicopter as it was approaching the airport for landing, situated just across the Potomac from Washington.

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) member Todd Inman informed reporters that the flight data recorder was in good condition, and its data is expected to be downloaded soon. He added that water had entered the cockpit voice recorder, an occurrence that, while not unusual, complicates the investigation.

The helicopter’s data, stored in a single black box, was at NTSB headquarters and appeared undamaged, stated Inman.

The Associated Press reported on Thursday that initial findings from the Federal Aviation Administration indicated that staffing at the air traffic control tower was “not normal,” with suggestions that one employee may have been handling responsibilities meant for two.

Inman mentioned that the crash occurred so suddenly that there was no indication of emergency safety equipment being deployed prior to the airplane’s impact with the water. The NTSB is expected to publish a report with preliminary findings within 30 days.

Authorities confirmed that the jet was transporting members of the professional figure skating community, including the 1994 World Champions in pairs from Russia, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov.

Donnelly noted that recovery teams would need to extricate the aircraft’s wreckage, which is submerged in the riverbed, in order to access the remaining passengers’ remains.

Trump stated at the Oval Office on January 30 that he plans to meet with the victims’ families but did not provide additional information.

This report was contributed by The Associated Press and Travis Gilmore.