Several of the passengers and crew aboard an American Airlines flight and a military helicopter were identified and a black box was recovered on Thursday.

Wednesday’s fatal collision and two other incidents dramatically illustrate the challenges pilots and air traffic controllers face in the complex, security-sensitive skies above the nation’s capital.

Officials say the conditions of the Potomac River are complicating recovery efforts of the bodies of the 67 presumed dead in a mid-air collision between American Airlines flight 5342 from Wichita and a military Black Hawk helicopter.

We are now at the point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” said John Donnelly, the fire chief in the nation’s capital.

Officials are set to hold a press conference at 7:30 a.m. during which more information about survivors and fatalities will be released.

Search efforts continue after an American Airlines plane from Wichita, with 64 people on board, collided with an Army helicopter near Washington, D.C., and crashed into the Potomac River.

No survivors found in crash between Black Hawk helicopter and American Airlines jet over Potomac River near DC

A plane collided in midair with a helicopter approaching Reagan Washington National Airport, near the Potomac River, Wednesday night, officials set. A rescue operation was underway, officials said. Multiple 911 callers reported the crash near the river just before 8:55 p.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday that “there was some sort of elevation issue” with the Army Black Hawk helicopter that collided in mid-air with a passenger airliner Wednesday night over the Potomac River that is now being investigated.

Here’s a list of relevant authorities and others on X to follow all the updates that continue to pour in, providing emerging details about the shocking crash.

A view of emergency response to Wednesday night’s fatal crash of a passenger jet landing at Reagan National Airport and an Army helicopter. The body of the plane was found upside-down in three sections in waist-deep water in the Potomac River.