Families of victims visit Washington plane crash site amid swirl of questions

Families of victims of the deadliest US air disaster in nearly 25 years visited the crash site on Sunday amid a swirl of ongoing questions on what caused the mid-air collision between a passenger jet and a military helicopter at an airport just outside Washington DC. Dozens of people walked along the banks of the Potomac River near Reagan National airport, close to where an American Airlines jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed into each other on Wednesday, killing all 67 aboard. Although federal investigators are still working to piece together the events that led to the crash, Washington DC fire chief John Donnelly said on Sunday evening that officials have positively identified 55 of the people who were killed. The Army Corps of Engineers is surveying and preparing to begin significant salvage operations on Monday to remove the wreckage from the river. The transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, toured the morning TV shows and said federal aviation investigators needed space to conduct their inquiry. “What was happening inside the towers? Were they understaffed? … The position of the Black Hawk, the elevation of the Black Hawk, were the pilots of the Black Hawk wearing night vision goggles?” Duffy asked on CNN. The American Airlines flight, with 64 people on board was preparing to land from Wichita, Kansas. The Army Black Hawk helicopter was on a training mission and had three soldiers on board. Both aircraft plunged to the Potomac River after colliding.<br/>