DC plane crash: Search for bodies continues; Army IDs pilot

Editor's Note: This page is a summary of news on the midair collision near Washington, D.C., for Saturday, Feb. 1. For the latest news view our story for Sunday, Feb. 2.

The U.S. Army identified the pilot of the Army helicopter involved in Wednesday’s crash above the Potomac River that left 67 people dead as a jet attempted to land at Reagan Washington National Airport.

Capt. Rebecca Lobach, 28, of Durham, North Carolina, was one of three soldiers aboard the Black Hawk helicopter, the Army announced alongside a statement from Lobach's family on Saturday evening. The Army had already identified the other two soldiers.

The remains of more than two dozen people still hadn't been recovered from the frigid Potomac River as of Saturday afternoon, days after the military helicopter and the American Airlines Flight 5342 carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided in the night skies near Washington, D.C. The collision, which left no survivors, is the deadliest American aviation disaster in over two decades.

As of Saturday, the remains of 42 people have been recovered, the D.C. Fire and EMS Department said in an update. The D.C. Medical Examiner's Office has identified the remains of 38 people.

Lawsuits: As crash victims' families start calling lawyers, Trump's words may be evidence in suits

National Transportation Safety Board investigators already recovered the two "black boxes" from the plane. On Friday evening, NTSB member Todd Inman said the helicopter’s black box had been recovered and appeared in good condition. These boxes ? containing flight data and recorders ? will be used to help determine the cause of the crash.

A Washington Post analysis of radio transmissions found the helicopter had been alerted by air traffic control twice that the plane was inbound. The first warning reportedly occurred two minutes before the collision, with a second warning about 12 seconds before the two aircraft collided.

On Saturday afternoon, crews were at the scene of the wreckage, with officials noting conditions had improved to help search efforts. Salvage crews from the Army Corps of Engineers and the Navy were assessing the area and preparing to recover the aircraft, though no wreckage was expected to be removed Saturday.

Related: 'Earned her place': Friends grieve Rebecca Lobach, US Army pilot killed in DC crash

Potomac conditions improve as search continues for remains

Conditions of the Potomac River Saturday have improved as officials recover the remains of people who died in the collision.

Since Wednesday night, ice and debris in the Potomac River had made recovery efforts difficult, though water has cleared and temperatures have warmed, Coast Guard Capt. Patrick Burkett, commander of the Sector Maryland-National Capital Region, told USA TODAY. This has allowed increased ability for scanning, including sonar.

Several Coast Guard ships and more than 200 personnel have established a safety zone as first-responders search the area searching for people’s remains.

“The goal at the end is to make sure we do everything we can to bring closures for the families,” he said.

Coast Guard are patrolling an area over 3 miles downriver to the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge, to navigable waterways upriver.

Crashed Army Black Hawk responsible for doomsday readiness

The Black Hawk helicopter was on a training flight along a route core to a seldom-discussed military mission to evacuate senior officials to safety in the event of an attack on the U.S., officials say.

The military mission, known as "continuity of government" and "continuity of operations," is meant to preserve the ability of the U.S. government to operate. Most days, crews like the one killed on Wednesday transport VIPs around Washington, which is buzzing with helicopter traffic.

But U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth disclosed the Black Hawk crew's ties to the mission during a White House press conference on Thursday, saying they "were on a routine, annual re-training of night flights on a standard corridor for a continuity of government mission."

- Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali, Reuters

President Trump, Secretary Duffy's words may be evidence in lawsuits

Families of the victims in Wednesday’s catastrophic airline collision are in the early stages of filing claims against the government, and their case could receive a boost from high profile comments made by President Trump and members of his cabinet.

Lawyers from the nation’s top aviation disaster firm say they’ve already been contacted by some families exploring lawsuits after the disaster near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday that killed 67 people. The firm secured settlements for families of victims in the nation's last major air disaster, the 2009 crash of a Continental Airlines flight in Buffalo that killed 50 people.

Public comments by Trump, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth could make their cases stronger if families of victims in this week's crash move forward, according to partners with New York-based Kreindler & Kreindler.

“Duffy basically says: We’re not going to run away from it, we’ll own it, and the president has made statements about the Army helicopter pilot who messed up,” said Justin Green a partner at the firm. “It’ll be interesting to see how the government and this administration handles any efforts to resolve this case. It’s within their power to direct claims be paid swiftly.”

- Nick Penzenstadler

Read more here.

Figure skaters grieve across continents, generations

At an ice rink near Washington, local residents piled flowers and stuffed animals on a table in the lobby. In the outskirts of Boston, the leader of a storied figure skating club choked back tears.

Yet as the figure skating community continued to grapple with the deaths of more than 15 skaters, coaches and parents in a fatal plane crash Wednesday night, the grief was not limited to the clubs and towns that lost some of their own. In the days since the tragedy, its ripple effects have been felt in ice rinks and skating clubs across the country and even around the world, from Raleigh and San Francisco to Montreal and Tallin, Estonia, where the European Figure Skating Championships are taking place.

"What you learn in skating is you fall down constantly, but you get up," Tenley Albright, a 1956 Olympic champion and U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame inductee, USA TODAY Sports on Friday. "And so that's what we need to do now, except we're not quite sure how to get up."

- Tom Schad and Josh Peter

Read more here.

FAA restricts helicopter routes near Reagan National Airport

The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday began restricting helicopter traffic around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in the aftermath of the deadly collision.

The Department of Transportation said the restriction exempts helicopters that need to enter the airspace for “lifesaving medical support, active law enforcement, active air defense, or presidential transport.”

The restricted area over the Potomac River stretches roughly from the Memorial Bridge to the Wilson Bridge. The Department of Transportation said officials will reassess the restriction after the National Transportation Safety Board has completed its preliminary investigation of Wednesday’s crash.

Air space is typically crowded around the Washington area, home to three commercial airports and multiple military bases. The Potomac corridor in particular is busy with airliners and helicopters.

(This story has been updated to add new information.)

Contributing: Christopher Cann, Cybele Mayes-Osterman and Minnah Arshad, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: DC plane crash: Search for bodies continues; Army IDs pilot