ASHINGTON CRASH Investigators try to salvage aircraft

Investigators yesterday pushed forward with efforts to retrieve the two aircraft involved in a crash in Washington that killed 67 people and raised questions about air safety in the US capital.

Fresh from recovering the so-called black boxes from the American Airlines plane that crashed into the Potomac River after colliding with an Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday, divers aim to “salvage the aircraft” and find additional components, Washington’s fire department said.

“Overnight, boats will remain on scene for security and surface searches from local, state, and federal regional partners,” it said.

The National Transportation Safety Board is studying the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the CRJ700 airplane, which carried 60 passengers and four crew members, all of whom perished in the crash. The three members of the helicopter crew also died.

The board said it will have preliminary report into disaster within 30 days. Authorities have not pinpointed a reason for the collision.

The military said the maximum altitude for the route the helicopter was taking is 200 feet (61 meters) but it may have been flying higher.

The collision occurred at an altitude of around 300 feet, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24.

Senator Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, questioned the safety of military and commercial flights separated by as little as 350 feet (107 m) vertically and horizontally.