The black boxes of the American Airlines plane submerged in the Potomac River from Wednesday’s crash with a military helicopter have been recovered, the National Transportation Safety Board said late Thursday.
The black boxes are the nickname for the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder that record events during a flight.
The cockpit voice recorder could reveal what the pilots were saying throughout and could reveal whether they saw the helicopter before the collision. The flight data recorder monitors parameters such as altitude, airspeed, and heading.
Black boxes are designed to be exceptionally resilient in the case of a plane crash.
Wednesday’s crash is presumed to have killed all 60 passengers and four crew of the aircraft as well as the three military members aboard the helicopter. The bodies of at least 14 plane victims are still missing, CNN reported.
There has been no specific reason cited for the collision, which is still under investigation. The black boxes will likely grant critical information about the incident to investigators.
President Donald Trump blamed the military helicopter’s actions for the crash on Thursday.
“They shouldn’t have been at the same height,” Trump said. “You had a pilot problem from the standpoint of the helicopter. I mean it was visual. It was a very clear night.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also suggested those in the helicopter were at fault.
“There was some sort of an elevation issue that we have immediately begun investigating at the DOD and Army level,” he said.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Trump has also blamed diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, without evidence, for the crash.
“Because I have common sense, and unfortunately, a lot of people don’t. We want brilliant people doing this. This is a major chess game at the highest level,” Trump said.