Between the sharp edges of the wreckage, the spilled jet fuel, the murky water, the cold temperatures, and the currents, divers face tough conditions in aftermath of the DC crash.

Washington

A regional jet carrying 64 people collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter while on approach to Reagan National Airport near Washington, DC.

D.C. Crash

A recovery operation is underway on the Potomac River following a deadly mid-air collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and a Blackhawk helicopter near Washington's Reagan National Airport. Hundreds of first responders have gathered at the crash site to conduct a massive recovery effort. The operation involves nearly 300 emergency personnel, including close to 50 divers working under challenging conditions. 

The recovery teams are contending with hazardous elements, as they dive in two separate locations amidst jagged metal wreckage and jet fuel contamination. The water temperature remains low, adding the risk of hypothermia to the operation, combined with the swift current and floating debris, divers face a complex and dangerous task. The hazardous environment has been described as one involving "a thousand razor blades" by salvage expert Steve St. Amour. 

Divers rely largely on tactility due to the murky water conditions, augmented by the use of an acoustic camera to navigate the underwater hazards. With the operation under significant public scrutiny, the divers and first responders are not only dealing with the formidable physical challenges but also emotional exhaustion, as public demand for answers adds to the pressure of the ongoing recovery.



Divers retrieving bodies face difficult conditions in D.C.

Tonight, hundreds of first responders continued to take part in a massive recovery operation on the Potomac River, following a deadly mid-air collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and a Blackhawk helicopter. Crash, crash, crash. This is alert three. Crash, crash, crash. This is alert three. Where's the alert three? It is off the approach end of runway 33. Approach end of runway 33. Helicopter crashed. Within minutes after the fireball was spotted in the skies near Washington's Reagan National Airport, the first emergency personnel arrived to the crash site on the Potomac River, eventually numbering nearly 300. Crews immediately got into the water in what the D.C. Fire Chief called a dangerous situation. I think it's an extremely complex operation. Not only are we diving in one site, we're diving in two. We're working around jagged metal, which is hard on our divers' protective equipment, and we're working in a contaminated environment that involves jet fuel. So it doesn't get any harder than that. The president of the Firefighters Association says at one point there were close to 50 divers in the water, water that had temperatures in the 30s and 40s, and they had a lot working against them. The swift current was a challenge. Searching the fuselage, there's a lot of sharp objects in the cockpit, so it was a very difficult and risky and dangerous rescue attempt. All the dive crews are searching in an area where the water is about waist deep and also has pieces of ice and debris floating in it. You have hypothermia to deal with, you have to have dehydration that we all have to deal with. It's all the elements coming together in something that's already very technical, very hazardous, and just truly very dangerous. What we have up here is a piece of fuselage. Salvage expert Steve St. Amour has handled more than 100 operations to recover bodies and debris from plane crashes. He believes the divers in this operation are facing some unique dangers. We have an aircraft that has essentially disintegrated, and wherever the fuselage is broken, it's a sharp edge. It would be like working in the middle of a thousand razor blades. The hazard of cutting yourself is significant. Another challenge, the murkiness of the water. A lot of what the divers are going to be doing is by tactile touching and feeling their way. That's definitely going to present a problem, but with that acoustic camera, they will be able to get a really reasonable image of what it is that they're working on. Steve St. Amour says in operations like this, at this stage, the divers and other first responders are contending not only with physical challenges, but also with emotional exhaustion. He says in operations like this with a lot of public attention, they know that the public wants answers, and that puts more pressure on them to complete this recovery.

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D.C. Crash