American Airlines Plane Carrying 64 People Had 'Rapid Impact,' Slides Likely Weren't Deployed: NTSB

Mar. 15, 2025

Emergency crews move debris near the crash site along the Potomac River.Photo:Alex Wroblewski/Bloomberg via Getty

Alex Wroblewski/Bloomberg via Getty

Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reaffirmed local authorities’ belief that there were no survivors in thedeadly midair collisionon Wednesday, Jan. 29, between an American Airlines jet and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C.

“The D.C. fire chief [John A. Donnelly] said this morning very succinctly, correctly, that ‘we believe there are no survivors,’ “ NTSB board member J. Todd Inman at apress conferenceheld on Thursday, Jan. 30.

Inman said that NTSB investigators are currently going through the debris field and suggested that the incident happened so quickly that the American Airlines plane’s slides and chutes were not deployed.

“Nothing we’ve seen would indicate that maybe slides or chutes were deployed,” said Inman. “It was a very quick, rapid impact. We’ve seen nothing in that regard so far from the evidence we have, but we still need to verify all of that information.”

“We are all here because this is an all-hands-on-deck event. And we’re here to assure the American people that we are going to leave no stone unturned in this investigation,” she said. “We are going to conduct a thorough investigation of this entire tragedy looking at the facts.”

NTSB officials did not discuss specific details of the case, as Thursday marked their first full day on the investigation. Instead, they outlined the steps they will take moving forward. They also noted that the “black box” recording devices have not yet been recovered but emphasized that this is not unusual.

Inman said that investigators will be at the scene “as long as it takes.”

“Our mission is to understand not just what happened, but why it happened and to recommend changes to prevent it from happening again," he said.

Earlier, officials announced they were transitioning from a “search and rescue” operation to a “recovery” operation.

“At this point we don’t believe there are any survivors from this accident,” said Washington, D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John A. Donnelly, adding that they had already “recovered 27 people from the plane and one from the helicopter.”

He added, “The District Office of the Medical Examiner has led on reuniting these bodies and these people with their loved ones and we will continue to work to find all the bodies and collect them and reunite them with their loved ones."

At the time of the crash, the jet was carrying60 passengers and four crew members, according to a statement from American Airlines. The U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter also had three soldiers onboard.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

While the full details of those onboard the aircrafts remain unknown, CEO Doug Zeghibe announced at a press conference on Thursday, Jan. 30, that14 U.S. figure skaterswere on the plane, including six members of The Skating Club of Boston.

The victims from The Skating Club of Boston have been identified as two teens, Spencer Lane and Jinna Han, their mothers, Molly Lane and Jin Han, and two coaches, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, former World Champions.

Inna Volyanskaya, 59, a former pair skater who competed for the Soviet Union, was also on the plane, according toReuters, citing Russian news agency TASS. According to the Washington Figure Skating Club’swebsite, Volyanskaya was a coach for the team.

Additionally, pairs figure skating world champions Evgenia Shishkova, 52, and Vadim Naumov, 55, who won the title in 1994, were among the plane passengers, Reuters andThe Guardianreported, citing Russian news agencies TASS and RIA.

The couple, who were married, were thought to have lived in the U.S. since at least 1998 after retiring from their competitive careers,Reutersreported. They helped to train young ice skaters.

The 2025 Prevagen U.S. Figure Skating Championships were held in Witchita last week.

The two cities involved in the crash of American Airlines Flight 5342will be “forever” linked, according to Mayor Lily Wu.

“We mourn with all those who have been impacted,” Wusaid in an emotional press conferenceearlier on Thursday. “This is a terrible tragedy that will unite those in Washington, D.C. and Wichita, Kansas, forever."

source: people.com