Under a police escort, the families of the 67 people killed in last week's midair collision gathered near the site of the wreckage, just outside of Washington, D.C. CBS News senior transportation correspondent Kris Van Cleave has more.

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

The families of the 67 victims involved in a recent midair collision gathered near the wreckage site outside of Washington, D.C. The meeting was under a significant police escort near one of the runways at Washington's Reagan National Airport. The tragedy involved aircraft Flight 5342, where one of the victims was co-pilot Sam Lilley. Efforts are being made to recover and identify the bodies, with 55 bodies already recovered.

Crew and equipment have been mobilized to manage the wreckage recovery while also considering the human remains. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has revealed that black box data showed the airliner was flying significantly above the permissible altitude for helicopter traffic in the area prior to the collision. Investigations are ongoing to determine whether the air traffic control tower's equipment accurately displayed the helicopter's altitude leading up to the accident.

The U.S. Army has identified the crew of the helicopters involved in the collision, including Captain Rebecca Lobach. The helicopters were on a routine training mission, a standard procedure for maintaining pilot certification. Following the incident, the airspace around Reagan National Airport has been closed to helicopter traffic. CBS News indicates that five individuals were in the airport's control tower on the night of the incident, which included two air traffic controllers juggling multiple tasks.



Families of victims of deadly midair collision visit wreckage site

Under a massive police escort, the families of the 67 people killed in Wednesday's midair collision gathered within sight of the wreckage, just off one of the runways at Washington's Reagan National Airport Sunday. I was hoping he was on another flight, but when we put all the pieces together, it was obvious that it was him. Tim Lilley's son, Sam, was the co-pilot on Flight 5342. He was engaged to be married. I want to thank the first responders that got out there in the night with the water that was freezing and the people that they were pulling out. They were just trying to recover our loved ones for us. Crews spent the weekend positioning cranes and other key equipment to begin removing the wreckage. Our goal is to really lift as much as we can, given the fact that we are also accounting for the human remains component. Fifty-five bodies have been recovered as NTSB investigators say black box data indicates the airliner was flying at around 325 feet ahead of the collision. That's well higher than the 200 feet set by the FAA for helicopter traffic in that area. According to the NTSB, the airline pilots appeared to pull up about a second before the crash, and investigators are working to understand if the air traffic controller's screens were providing the helicopter's actual altitude leading up to the collision. From tragedy, we draw knowledge to improve the safety for us all. That's what we're doing right now. We're dealing with tragedy, but we need to improve safety. The Army has now identified all three helicopter crew members, including Captain Rebecca Lobach, as we learn more about their training mission. These were two experienced, qualified pilots to fly in this local area. This is something they've done many times before, and they were simply out flying a training mission that's required to re-evaluate, just like every Army pilot does on an annual basis. You get re-evaluated, re-signed off to fly in your local area. That helicopter had two pilots and a crew chief on board. The airspace around the airport has now been closed to helicopters, and we've learned there were five people in the airport control tower Wednesday night. That includes two controllers that CBS News has learned were doing multiple jobs.

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