Black Box of military chopper involved in Washington DC crash recovered, NTSB says it's in 'good condition'

The National Transportation Safety Board said on Friday that it has recovered the black box from the US Black Hawk military chopper which was involved in a deadly crash in Washington DC. On Wednesday, the military helicopter collided with an American Airlines aircraft in mid-air, making it one of the deadliest aviation disasters in American history.

The NTSB member Todd Inman said that the black box appeared to be “undamaged” emphasising that they could retrieve more information about the incident. It is pertinent to note that a black box usually comprises flight data and a cockpit voice recorder. While Inman said that the instrument was in good condition, he made it clear that the NTSB would not be releasing information from the device immediately as the probe in the crash that killed 67 people is currently underway.

Meanwhile, recorders of the passenger plane were recovered by the authorities on Thursday night. At that time, the officials noted that the plane’s data recorder was “in good condition” but the cockpit voice recorder “had water intrusion,” which can pose a problem in regard to collecting data.

Authorities conduct interviews with witnesses

As a part of the investigation, the authorities working at the air traffic control conducted interviews with the witnesses on Friday. While speaking to the reporters, Inman said that those interviews would continue through Friday night and into the coming days. The remarks from NTSB came hours after US President Donald Trump claimed that the Black Hawk helicopter had been “flying too high, by a lot” when the crash took place.

The president’s assertion was seen stemming from the question about the angle at which the plane had been flying, as well as whether the air traffic control tower had been understaffed. All 64 people on the passenger plane, along with the three people in the army helicopter, died on Wednesday night after the two aircraft collided in midair close to the Reagan National Airport.

As of now, the authorities have managed to recover the bodies of 40 people from the Potomac River, where the wreckage of the accident remains. Most of those recovered victims have been identified by the authorities and the search operation for the remaining bodies is still underway.

The US Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, confirmed that the Federal Aviation Administration would immediately restrict helicopter traffic around the Reagan Airport. He said the move would ensure “the safety of aeroplane and helicopter traffic”. “The American people deserve full confidence in our aviation system, and today’s action is a significant step towards restoring that,” he said.

It is pertinent to note that the Emergency medical helicopters as well as those actively working in law enforcement and air defense will be exempted from the restriction. Not only this, the presidential helicopter Marine One is also exempted as well.

With inputs from agencies.