Conditions of DC’s Potomac River make recovery after plane crash difficult. Here’s why
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.
Here’s what the conditions were like at the time of the collision over Washington D.C., near the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, on Wednesday, Jan. 29.
Difficulty recovering
John Donnelly, chief of D.C. fire and EMS said a news conference late Wednesday night that wind and ice were making water recoveries difficult.
“It’s just dangerous and hard to work in,” he said.
As of Thursday morning, 28 of the presumed 67 bodies had been recovered, according to Donnelly. Divers, boats and helicopters have assisted in the search.
How cold was the Potomac River?
The data comes from Potomac around 10 p.m. Eastern Time, soon after the crash when first responders were beginning their recovery efforts.
The water temperature in the Potomac was 33.8 degrees and the air temperature dipped down to 33 overnight at the Reagan Airport, according to the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Weather Service.
Donnelly said that pieces of ice floated on the river, endangering divers.
“The water is dark, it is murky, and that is a very tough condition for them to dive in,” Donnelly said.
How deep and wide is the Potomac River?
The Potomac River is 8 feet deep and between a half a mile and 1.1 miles wide near the site of the crash.
The Potomac was flowing at the time of the crash. On Wednesday night, the river had a discharge of 4,110 cubic feet per second, which is more than the Arkansas River in Wichita at the same time — 163 cubic feet per second — and less than the Missouri River in Kansas City — 18,400 cubic feet per second.
‘Crash’
At about 8:50 p.m. on Jan. 29, airport officials made the first emergency call.
“Crash, crash, crash!” said someone with Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority public safety channel captured on Broadcastify.com.
The debris landed in the Potomac River, just southeast of the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
In the hours following the crash, rescue boats arrived and a boathouse along the river was designated the “casualty collection point,” according to audio feed.
