No survivors expected after plane collides with helicopter over Potomac River

Reed M. Kimbrough, a former Army helicopter pilot, said it would be premature to make any conclusions about the cause of the midair collision in Washington, D.C., before an investigation is complete.

But he was not totally surprised that the tragedy occurred between an American Airlines plane and an Army Black Hawk helicopter, he said, because night vision goggles can impact a pilot’s depth perception.

Kimbrough, who flew from 1978 to 1986, said, “There’s a lag in vision as the night vision goggles recalibrate from looking inside at the instruments to back outside,” he said, potentially making objects initially seem farther away than they are.

He added that the helicopter “seemed to be flying too high. The mandated height of flying for a helicopter around that airport, with the ambient lighting near it, is 200 feet.” Reports said the helicopter was between 300 and 350 feet at collision.

Outside of the Ashburn Ice House in Virginia, Jeff Winch said that his daughter Alexis lost four friends and a coach in the plane crash.

Winch said he and his wife told their daughter the news this morning.

"We don't want her to hear from anybody else at school, so we had a conversation this morning. At first, she didn't quite understand what we were trying to tell her, and then I was a little more blunt with, you know, 'You've lost friends last night,'" he said, recalling his conversation with his daughter.

"I don't know how to process this," Winch added later.

His 10-year-old daughter Alexis recalled her favorite memories with friends who were on the plane, including watching Nationals together, spending time with a friend who "would always be there to talk to me and support me," playing games and a coach who created a "creative and artistic" program.

Another mother, Theresa Terry, came to the ice skating facility to drop off flowers for a memorial inside. She said her 22-year-old daughter knew two people on the flight with their parents and was "inconsolable."

"I'm a mess," Terry said, recalling the many trips she made with her daughters who have been heavily involved in figure skating.

"There’s just no words to describe how awful it is, how terrifying, and how sad it is for these families," she said.

Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said in a briefing today, “We’re certain there are Kansans on the flight boarded in Wichita.”

He noted that he hasn’t seen a passenger list yet and won’t know the number or names of Kansans impacted until the family members of the victims are notified. 

“That’s taking place. It started last night and continues throughout the day, and we’ve been monitoring our folks back home,” he said.

He said it's likely many Kansas families will be affected or know someone impacted, adding, "We’re going to continue to receive some pretty damaging and sad and serious news."

National Transportation Safety Board Jennifer Homendy said the board will analyze what human factors played a role in the crash, in response to questions from reporters after President Donald Trump implied that diversity, equity and inclusion could have played a role. 

“As part of any investigation, we look at the human, the machine and the environment,” Homendy said. “So we will look at all the humans that were involved in this accident.”

Homendy said she had attended a briefing with the president about the NTSB’s investigation.

When asked about the president’s comments about potential causes of the crash, Homendy said NTSB often deals with speculation and that the board needs time to gather information, evaluate data and determine a probable cause.    

“We take a very careful approach,” Homendy said. “We look at facts on our investigation, and that will take some time.” 

The National Transportation Safety Board has yet to recover flight data recorders after the Potomac crash, according to Jennifer Homendy, the chair of the independent board. 

“We have not recovered the flight data recorders yet. We know they’re there. They are underwater. This is not unusual for the NTSB. We have many times recovered flight data recorders underwater,” Homendy said. 

J. Todd Inman, a board member, said the agency expected to recover flight data recorders from both the passenger aircraft and the military helicopter involved in the crash.

NTSB leaders said they plan to produce a preliminary report of the Potomac crash within 30 days, but offered little new information.

“We are going to conduct a thorough investigation of this entire tragedy, looking at the facts,” said Homendy. “We have nearly 50 people on scene.” 

The NTSB is an independent, nonpartisan board that investigates transportation incidents for the federal government, including all civilian aviation crashes. 

Video recorded by veteran pilot Chuck Smith offers a sense of the flight path that jets take on their approach to Runway 33 at DCA.

Jets fly up the Potomac River, over the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge and over land before turning left to cross the river on their final approach right before touchdown.

Flight Aware shows that the last data from the flight’s Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, a precision tracking program also known as ADS-B, put it at an altitude of 375 feet with a latitude and longitude just off the eastern bank of the river.

A preliminary FAA report on the collision found that air traffic control tower staffing at Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) was "not normal" for the amount of air traffic and for the time of day, a source with knowledge of the situation told NBC News.

The tower typically has a controller that focuses specifically on helicopter traffic. But at the time of the crash last night, the source said, one controller at DCA was overseeing both airplane and helicopter activity.

FAA guidelines do allow for this position to be combined, permitting one controller to control both airplanes and helicopters.

The Loudoun County and Fairfax County public school systems have confirmed that members of their communities are among the victims of last night's crash.

“Our hearts are broken as we learn that we have lost members of our FCPS family in the tragic accident at Reagan National Airport last night,” Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Michelle Reid said in a statement posted today. “I invite you to join me in praying for our families, friends, and colleagues, that we know have lost loved ones in this tragic accident.”

It is not immediately clear whether the individuals are current or former students or staff.

Loudoun County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Aaron Spence confirmed that "multiple victims" of the crash were former students. "We extend our deepest condolences to all those grieving in the wake of this tragedy," Spence said.

Resources such as consultations with mental health professionals and crisis counseling are being made available by both school systems to staff, students and their families.

Both Loudoun and Fairfax County are populous suburbs of the Washington, D.C., metro area.

Sens. Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran said they are grieving with their fellow Kansans following last night’s air catastrophe. 

Marshall said he wants answers on what happened regarding communication between air traffic controllers and the aircraft involved, as well as whether transponders were properly working.

“I have two large, large, large concerns about what transpired here. First thing is the communication between the air traffic control and the helicopter and the plane … There’s no direct communication between the civilian and the military helicopter and airplane. Instead, it has to go through air traffic control and then it’s relayed, rather than an opportunity back and forth,” he said. 

“I think my biggest concern, though, is about these transponders … As I understand it, these transponders should communicate back and forth so one aircraft will know where the other one is, and warnings go off if they get too close," he continued.

"Folks, this is one of the busiest airspaces in America, and for some reason, those transponders between this military helicopter and the civilian jet do not communicate with each other. I don’t know why they would be allowed in this airspace if they don’t communicate with each other. I think it just set up for failure.”