JEFF HAYNESAFP
Investigators on Thursday recovered the black boxes from a passenger plane whose mid-air collision with a military helicopter over Washington's Potomac River killed 67 people, as rescuers pulled victims' bodies from the freezing water.
Among those on the airliner were several US skaters and coaches, US Figure Skating said. Officials in Moscow also confirmed the presence of Russian couple Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who won the 1994 World Pairs title.
Two Chinese citizens were also among the victims of the crash, state news agency Xinhua reported Friday in Beijing, citing the Chinese embassy.
The force of the collision soon made it clear that survivors were unlikely.
"I just saw a fireball, and it was gone," one air traffic controller heard telling a colleague after communication with the helicopter was cut.
Transport officials said both aircraft were on standard flight patterns on a clear night with good visibility.
Hegseth also said the chopper had "a fairly experienced crew doing a required annual night evaluation."
According to a New York Times report, staffing was thin in the control tower at Reagan National Airport, where the airliner was about to land when the collision occurred.
The Times quoted a preliminary Federal Aviation Administration report as saying that one controller, rather than the usual two, was handling both plane and helicopter traffic.
A fireball erupted in the night sky, and both aircraft tumbled into the icy Potomac, leaving rescue crews with the grim, arduous task of searching for bodies in the dark and cold.
Over 40 bodies had been recovered as of Thursday evening, according to US media reports.
© Agence France-Presse
