Data from the deadliest U.S. air accident in a generation show conflicting altitude readings

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Preliminary data from the deadliest U.S. aviation accident in nearly 25 years showed conflicting readings about the altitudes of an airliner and Army helicopter when they collided near Reagan National Airport in Washington, killing everyone aboard both aircraft, investigators said Saturday.

Investigators also said that about a second before impact, the jet’s flight recorder showed a change in its pitch. But they did not say whether that change in angle meant that pilots were trying to perform an evasive maneuver to avoid the crash.

Data from the jet’s flight recorder showed its altitude as 325 feet (99 meters), plus or minus 25 feet (7.6 meters), when the crash happened Wednesday night, National Transportation Safety Board officials told reporters. Data in the control tower, though, showed the Black Hawk helicopter at 200 feet (61 meters) at the time.

The roughly 100-foot (30-meter) discrepancy has yet to be explained.

Investigators hope to reconcile the altitude differences with data from the helicopter's black box, which is taking more time to retrieve because it became waterlogged after it plunged into the Potomac River. They also said they plan to refine the tower data, which can be less reliable.

“That’s what our job is, to figure that out,” said NTSB member Todd Inman, who grew increasingly agitated with reporters' questions seeking more information and clarity about the readings during a Saturday evening news conference.

He acknowledged that there was dissension within the investigative team about whether to release the information or wait until they had more data.

Officials say the helicopter’s maximum allowed altitude at the time was 200 feet (61 meters).

No one survived the collision, which occurred as an American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas, with 64 people on board was preparing to land at Ronald Reagan National Airport, just across the Potomac from the capital. The Army Black Hawk helicopter, which apparently flew into the jet’s path, had three soldiers on board.

“This is a complex investigation,” said Brice Banning, NTSB investigator in charge. “There are a lot of pieces here. Our team is working hard to gather this data.”

Banning also discussed the last moments from the jet's two black boxes, which captured sound in the cockpit and flight data.

“The crew had a verbal reaction,” Banning said, with the data recorder showing “the airplane beginning to increase its pitch. Sounds of impact were audible about one second later, followed by the end of the recording.”

Inman expressed frustration, too, that accidents like these occur, noting that the board has made “several hundred” recommendations to improve aviation that have not been acted upon.

“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,” he said.

“You want to do something about it? Adopt the recommendation of the NTSB. You’ll save lives,” he said, adding that he has spent hours with victims' families since the crash. “I don’t want to have to meet with those parents like that again.”

The families, he said, are struggling.

“Some wanted to give us hugs. Some are just mad and angry,” Inman said. “They are just all hurt. And they still want answers, and we want to give them answers.”

Earlier Saturday, recovery crews and divers searched the river and cleared wreckage. A Coast Guard cutter outfitted with a crane waited nearby, as occasional recovery team members slipped into the water amid a group of smaller emergency boats.

The remains of 42 people had been pulled from the river as of the afternoon, including 38 that have been positively identified, Washington emergency officials said. They expect to recover all of the remains, though the plane’s fuselage will probably have to be pulled from the water to get the rest.

Also Saturday, the Army identified Cpt. Rebecca M. Lobach, of Durham, North Carolina, as the third soldier who died in the crash. The names of the other two were released Friday, but Lobach’s name was withheld at the time at the request of her family.

Army officials have said the helicopter crew was highly experienced and familiar with the congested skies around the city. Military aircraft frequently make such flights to practice routes they would use if key government officials need to be evacuated during an attack or major catastrophe.

Investigators are examining the actions of the military pilot and air traffic control. The Federal Aviation Administration has long struggled with a shortage of controllers.

Full NTSB investigations typically take at least a year, though investigators hope to have a preliminary report within 30 days.

More than 300 responders were taking part in the recovery effort at a given time, officials said. After a rainy Friday, clear skies and warmer temperatures made for better conditions Saturday for workers in the field. Two Navy salvage barges were also deployed to lift heavy wreckage.

“ This is heartbreaking work,” Washington Fire Chief John Donnelly Sr. told reporters told reporters Friday. “It’s been a tough response for a lot of our people.”

With the nation already grieving the collision, an air ambulance slammed into a busy intersection in Philadelphia on Friday night, killing all six people on board, including a child who had just undergone treatment at a hospital, and at least one person on the ground. At least three people remained hospitalized Saturday with injuries, and officials said it could be days until the full toll of the dead and injured is clear.

In Washington, the FAA heavily restricted helicopter traffic around Reagan National on Friday, hours after President Donald Trump claimed in a social media post that the helicopter had been flying higher than allowed.

But a day after he questioned the helicopter pilot’s actions and alleged, without offering any evidence, that diversity initiatives have undermined air safety, Trump said the helicopter was “flying too high.”

“It was far above the 200-foot limit. That’s not really too complicated to understand, is it???” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

Wednesday's crash was the deadliest in the U.S. since Nov. 12, 2001, when a jet slammed into a residential neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens, just after takeoff from Kennedy Airport. The crash killed all 260 people on board and five people on the ground.

Experts regularly highlight that plane travel is overwhelmingly safe, but the crowded airspace around Reagan National can challenge even the most experienced pilots.

Associated Press writers Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix and Becky Bohrer Juneau, Alaska, contributed.

Roberto Marquez, of Dallas, places flowers at a memorial for the 67 victims of a midair collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines flight from Kansas near the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

National Transportation Safety Board member Todd Inman speaks with reporters at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

The air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is seen at sunset, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Arlington, Va., near the wreckage of a mid-air collision between a Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines jet in the Potomac River. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

A plane takes off from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport as Roberto Marquez of Dallas places flowers at a memorial of crosses he erected for the 67 victims of a midair collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines jet, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Police and coast guard boats are seen around a wreckage site in the Potomac River as an American Airlines plane passes in the foreground at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Arlington, Va., (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

An American Airlines jet approaches Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Arlington, Va., near the wreckage site in the Potomac river where an American Airlines jet and a Black Hawk helicopter collided, as seen from Alexandria, Va. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Members of a Fire and Rescue team search for debris on the Potomac river, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Arlington, Va., near the wreckage site where an American Airlines jet and a Black Hawk helicopter collided, as seen from Alexandria, Va. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Police and coast guard boats are seen around a wreckage site in the Potomac River as an American Airlines plane passes in the foreground at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Arlington, Va., (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

A Coast Guard vessel works on the Potomac river, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Arlington, Va., near the wreckage site where an American Airlines jet and a Black Hawk helicopter collided, as seen from Alexandria, Va. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

A Coast Guard vessel works on the Potomac river, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Arlington, Va., near the wreckage site where an American Airlines jet and a Black Hawk helicopter collided, as seen from Alexandria, Va. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

A Coast Guard vessel works on the Potomac river, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Arlington, Va., near the wreckage site where an American Airlines jet and a Black Hawk helicopter collided, as seen from Alexandria, Va. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is pictured, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Arlington, Va., as seen from Alexandria, Va. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

A Coast Guard boat works in the Potomac river as an American Airlines jet approaches Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Arlington, Va., near the wreckage site where an American Airlines jet and a Black Hawk helicopter collided, as seen from Alexandria, Va. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Search and rescue boats work on the Potomac river, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Arlington, Va., near the wreckage of an American Airlines jet that collided with a Black Hawk helicopter, as seen from Alexandria, Va. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Police and rescue boats work in the Potomac river, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Arlington, Va., near the wreckage of an American Airlines jet that collided with a Black Hawk helicopter, as seen from Alexandria, Va. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Members of a Fire and Rescue team search for debris on the Potomac river, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Arlington, Va., near the wreckage site where an American Airlines jet and a Black Hawk helicopter collided, as seen from Alexandria, Va. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

In this image provided by the National Transportation Safety Board, a NTSB investigator examine cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, recovered from the American Airlines passenger jet that crashed with an Army helicopter Wednesday night near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. (NTSB via AP)

In this image provided by the National Transportation Safety Board, NTSB investigators examine cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, recovered from the American Airlines passenger jet that crashed with an Army helicopter Wednesday night near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. (NTSB via AP)

National Transportation Safety Board member Todd Inman speaks with reporters at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Flowers and a letter in memorial to the victims of a mid-air collision of an American Airlines jet and a Black Hawk helicopter near the Potomac river are pictured at the Titanic Memorial, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Emergency vehicles and recovery operations are seen near the mouth of the Anacostia River at the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Emergency vehicles and recovery operations are seen near the mouth of the Anacostia River at the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

A visitor walks toward flowers and a letter left in memorial to the victims of a mid-air collision of an American Airlines jet and a Black Hawk helicopter near the Potomac river at the base of the Titanic Memorial, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

An American airline aircraft take off from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, as a Coast Guard vessel with a crane works near the wreckage, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Officials gather at the end of runway 33 near the wreckage site in the Potomac River of a mid-air collision between an American Airlines jet and a Black Hawk helicopter at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Aziaha James scored 19 points and No. 7 N.C. State jumped out to a big lead to beat No. 14 North Carolina 66-55 in the ACC Tournament semifinals on Saturday.

Madison Hayes and reserve Lorena Awou each had 10 points as the Wolfpack (26-5) avenged a one-point regular-season road loss. N.C. State faces either No. 11 Duke or No. 6 Notre Dame in Sunday’s Atlantic Coast Conference final.

Indya Nivar had 13 points and Maria Gakdeng had 10 points and 10 rebounds to lead North Carolina (27-7), which shot 27.9% from the field.

The Wolfpack rattled off the last 16 points of the first quarter for a 16-5 lead, delighting the decidedly pro-N.C. State crowd. North Carolina’s scoring drought extended for almost 11 minutes, creating a 21-5 hole.

North Carolina: The Tar Heels won two games in the tournament with a couple of comebacks following a two-game skid to end the regular season, when starters Alyssa Ustby and Reniya Kelly were out with injuries.

N.C. State: The Wolfpack will play in the ACC final for the fourth time in five years. To win it, they’ll have to defeat a ranked opponent for the seventh time this season.

James, who exited for a stretch after a hard first-quarter fall, scored the Wolfpack’s first six points of the second half to rebuild a double-figure lead after North Carolina made it 33-26 at halftime.

It marked the second day in a row that North Carolina was limited to five points in a quarter. Unlike against No. 22 Florida State in the quarterfinals, the Tar Heels couldn’t recover.

North Carolina awaits a bid to the NCAA Tournament as a possible first- and second-round host.

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North Carolina State's Zoe Brooks (35) attempts a shot between North Carolina's Lexi Donarski, left, North Carolina's Reniya Kelly, second from left, and Alyssa Ustby (1) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament in Greensboro, N.C., Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben McKeown)