55 of the 67 crash victims have been positively identified as family memorial takes place at crash site

A diver with the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia was injured today during the search for remains in the Potomac River, D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said during an evening briefing.

The diver was taken to an area hospital for a "hypothermia situation," Donnelly said. He has since checked out of the hospital.

"We’re happy to report that he’s doing fine, and that that’s the only injury we have the today," Donnelly said. "For the rest of the day, the salvage crews are continuing to survey the site and get ready for tomorrow."

Fifty-five of the 67 victims of the Potomac collision have been positively identified, D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said in a news briefing this evening.

All 67 people onboard both the American Eagle jet and the military helicopter were killed in the collision, officials have said. The families of the victims are receiving support from organizations including the Red Cross, the National Transportation Safety Board and American Airlines, Donnelly said.

Donnelly said he believes crews will be able to recover the remains of all of the victims, but they do not know where they are at this point.

"If we knew where they were though, we would already have them out," Donnelly said. "So, we have some work to do as this salvage operation goes on, and we will absolutely stay here and search until such point as we have everybody."

A crane is being positioned on the Potomac River near the wreckage of Wednesday's plane crash.

It's not clear at this time why the crane has been positioned near the wreckage.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker said during a briefing today that there's misinformation regarding Friday's crash on the internet.

"We are being very intentional during this time about making sure that we reinforce the facts, because there is so much misinformation about the issue on social media," Parker said. "And we want to make sure that all of those impacted benefit from the same facts that we as the city of Philadelphia have."

Parker said the city has been criticized for not sharing information on the crash more quickly.

"We want to be accurate and truthful with the people of Philadelphia and our country, and we are not going to be, you know, working very hard just to get something up on social media," Parker said. "That is not our role."

Personnel from local, state and federal agencies remain at the crash site where they are working around the clock, Parker said.

"The situation is fluid and it is active," she said.

At least 11 homes were "significantly damaged by the Philadelphia air ambulance crash, the city's Managing Director, Adam Thiel, said during a news briefing today.

Search and rescue teams are still conducting assessments on the ground, Thiel said, adding that multiple businesses have also been affected in "various ways."

Thiel said an average of about six people or less have stayed at a shelter in Samuel Fels High School each night, which may be an indication of the need in the community. He encouraged community members to report any potentially missing people.

"It is possible there are still people who are affected by this event, affected by that crash that we don't know about," he said. "So, as we said yesterday and the day before, if there's somebody who you think might have been in this area and they're missing and they haven't checked in and you can't reach them, or they live there -- call 911."

The total of those injured on the ground in the Philadelphia air ambulance crash has now climbed to 22, according to Mayor Cherelle Parker.

Of the 22, five remain hospitalized, with three in critical condition, Parker said. No additional information on the victims' injuries were shared.

“We have not, out of respect for their families and their loved ones, shared the names of any of those who have been impacted,” Parker said on Sunday.

The crash impacted several “dwellings and vehicles,” according to Parker.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Sunday said he wanted to leave federal aviation investigators space to conduct their inquiry.

But he posed a range of questions about the crash while appearing on morning TV news programs.

“What was happening inside the towers? Were they understaffed? … The position of the Black Hawk, the elevation of the Black Hawk, were the pilots of the Black Hawk wearing night vision goggles?” Duffy asked on CNN.

On Fox News Sunday, Duffy said the Federal Aviation Administration was looking into staffing in the Reagan Airport control tower.

Investigators said there were five controllers on duty at the time of the crash: a local controller, ground controller, assistant controller, a supervisor and supervisor in training.

According to an FAA report obtained by The Associated Press, one controller was responsible for helicopter and plane traffic. Those duties are often divided between two people but the airport typically combines them at 9:30 p.m., once traffic slows down. On Wednesday, the tower supervisor combined them earlier, which the report called “not normal.”

“Staffing shortages for air traffic control has been a major problem for years and years,” Duffy said, promising that President Donald Trump’s administration would address shortages with “bright, smart, brilliant people in towers controlling airspace.”

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker and other city officials will hold a news briefing at 11:30 a.m. today on Friday's jet crash that killed all 6 onboard and one person on the ground.

This crash came only two days after the Potomac crash, where an American Eagle jet collided with a military helicopter, killing over 60 people.

Family members of the victims of the Potomac collision gathered at the site of the crash this morning for a memorial to honor their loved ones, according to an official familiar with the service.

Ten charter buses transporting the family members rolled onto the tarmac with a police escort at Reagan International Airport shortly after 9:20 a.m., stopping first by the crash scene before moving to Runway 33 — where the American Eagle jet was supposed to land on Wednesday. A large memorial wreath could be seen near the riverbank.

The loved ones of the victims exited the buses and could be seen standing on the runway along the Potomac River. Dozens of family members are present for the service, the official confirms.

Officials from National Transportation Safety Board and an honor guard of first responders in dress uniform are also present on the tarmac. 

Olesya Taylor, 50, and her 12-year-old daughter, Olivia Ter, were onboard the American Airlines passenger jet that collided with a military helicopter, The Washington Post reported.

According to the outlet, Olivia was participating in the U.S. Figure Skating National Development Camp in Wichita. Her father, Andrew Ter, last spoke to her hours before Wednesday's flight over WhatsApp.

The identities of all three soldiers who were on board a Black Hawk helicopter when it collided with an American Eagle passenger jet near Washington, D.C., on Wednesday have been released.

The three service members along with all 64 people onboard the jet are presumed dead following the low-altitude collision over the Potomac River just before 9 p.m. that evening.

The U.S. Army released the identities of the three soldiers on board the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk military helicopter, but said it had not finished recovering remains and making positive identifications.

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