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the devastation of the first major u.s. plane crash in more than 15 years. and it happened on the waters of the potomac right behind me. right now, a desperate recovery mission is underway after an american eagle flight carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided

mid-air with a us army helicopter that had three members on board right here near reagan washington national airport overnight. we'll hear more from the national transportation safety board later this hour. meantime, there are dive teams in the water you're looking at right now. it is frigid. those waters. they are searching for the bodies of the victims, as there's confirmation now that there have been no survivors. and while answers to exactly what happened is unknown, we do know that 14 of the passengers on board the plane were figure skaters. that's according to the ceo of the skating club of boston. the athletes were returning from a training camp in wichita, kansas, following last week's national championships. these young skaters were some of the best in the country, and they were leaving that camp filled with excitement about the sport that they loved. spencer lane, who you see here skating just a

few months ago, was one of those skaters, and he shared on social media a photo of the airplane wing just minutes before takeof. with me. here is nbc's erin mclaughlin. erin, a critical piece of information. they brought up a lot of the plane. they brought up some of the helicopter with the black box is still missing. get us up to date on what we know. >> yeah, that's. >> right. >> chris the black. >> hawk, as. >> well as the passenger jet still submerged in the water, the fuselage having split. in two upon impact. following that explosion. we are getting more information this hour as. well about the. >> crew operating. >> the black hawk. according to two u.s. military officials, one of the crew members was a woman. another was a flight instructor. they were performing their annual evaluation. this was a regular occurrence and an experienced instructor. but in.

>> terms of. >> that investigation, as you mentioned, the black boxes have. yet to be recovered from either aircraft. that will be. absolutely critical to this investigation. hopefully, we will hear more from the ntsb about that in an. >> upcoming. >> press conference. >> i think we have a little bit of audio here that we can play. this was air traffic control just before the crash. >> site at two five. >> d.o.j. crash, crash crash crash crash crash. >> i just saw a. >> fireball and then it was. >> just gone. >> so i. >> haven't seen anything since they hit the river, but it was a crash and a helicopter that hit, i would say maybe a half mile off the approach end of 33. >> erin mclaughlin. we have seen literally nonstop in the 16 hours since this crash, how busy the waters have been. but everywhere around the country, folks are in mourning for something we haven't seen in such a very long time. and the search for answers is on.

>> yeah. that's right. >> and in terms of the search for answers, that piece of audio that we just listened. >> to will be an. >> absolutely critical. >> component of the investigation, specifically. the communication between the air traffic control and the black hawk. we know. >> that the air traffic controller. >> according to. >> that audio. >> did ask if they. >> saw that. commercial jet. >> in sight instructing the black hawk to fly behind it. >> and then. >> moments later, that crash. now, in terms of that overall timeline, the sequence of events the president himself in that press conference raising the. >> question. >> was that enough warning? why were the two aircraft flying at that altitude? all questions again that we hope to get more answers to. but this is going to be undoubtedly a prolonged investigation lasting days, weeks, if not months. >> thanks so much, erin mclaughlin. and i want to bring in john cox, a retired pilot and msnbc aviation analyst, as we're waiting for that press conference to start in just about 40 minutes. john, i wonder what the key questions are that

you think realistically, they may have answers to? >> i think one of the things they're going to have is a better exact track of both aircrafts. i think they will have had opportunity to take a look at the radar tracks and see precisely where these two aircraft were, also, the altitudes that the each of the aircraft are reporting, are they at the proper altitudes? the jet looks like from what i've seen, it's a very typical approach to that runway. i've done that approach many times. i have not seen the same quality of data from the helicopter yet. ntsb probably has. so i think that their ntsb is going to explain what they know, and they're also going to explain how they're going to go about investigating this. there are very rigid protocols that every investigative agency in the world follows. and ntsb

certainly is one of those. they're one of the premier investigative agencies. so i think that there will be some explanation of that. and then it will also probably be an ask for patience. these things take time, and it's much more important to get the right answers than to get a fast answer. >> well. >> let's start by talking about what we do know, because they did have that press conference this morning and they revealed very quickly it was a clear night. the helicopter was in a standard flight pattern. the american airlines, the american eagle flight was in a standard flight pattern. the patterns that they were in were not unusual. so when you talk about the very specific kinds of procedures, what comes next? what's the that the top of the list of things that they'll be looking at it. >> were they at the proper altitudes and at proper speeds? also the helicopter was told to

ask if they saw the rj, and they acknowledged that they did, and then they were told to pass behind it. all right. now, if they were on night vision goggles, which they reportedly were there, those devices are wonderful, but they do have limitations. one of the things ntsb will look at is if they were on nvgs, did those limitations come into this in any way? did it potentially help them misidentify the aircraft so that they thought that it was a different aircraft than the one that they were instructed to pass behind? those are the some of the myriad of questions that ntsb investigators will ask and find answers to. >> yeah, you mentioned it's going to take some time. and we heard the frustration from president trump today, suggesting that sometimes it takes years to get a final determination from the ntsb. and that's why he felt confident in coming out and telling folks

what he thinks happened. what did you make of that? what do you make of president trump saying, here's what what i believe went on here. >> there there was no foundation for some of his statements. the whole di thing, every one of these pilots, the air traffic controllers, they had all met high, very high standards. and so to say, to make such allegations, there's just no foundation of fact in it and even greater significance. one of the things that aircraft accident investigators do, and it's a it's a standard worldwide and has been for decades, is to stick to the facts, the facts that, you know, to not speculate and to let the evidence lead you where it leads you. so to make speculative statements at this early part of the investigation,

it's counterproductive. it goes against the worldwide standard for accident investigation. so it it's not helpful. and it, it lets the world know that a political a political statement can be made about something that everyone's focused on the factual evidence. and so we need to stay with the factual evidence. >> john cox, thank you so much. we always are appreciative of your time when you come on the program. thank you. i want to bring in lisa bend. he is a retired pilot who is very experienced flying in and out of reagan washington national airport. thank you so much for being with us. and we keep hearing about how this is a very complicated airport. it has the busiest runway in the country, but you have all the flight

restrictions that are involved in being around the seat of the federal government. tell us from your experience countless times flying in and out of reagan, how complicated and sensitive is this airspace? >> well. >> you got to you got as a pilot. you got to be on your a game in and out of that out of reagan. this is a lot of concrete in a very small area with limited runways and limited runway length. so you know, before you get in there, you're focused on what has to happen. the procedures have actually gotten more complicated since i've i've flown in there. essentially, you're doing an approach that involves basically turning points in the sky. they're called waypoints. and this starts this arrival starts 80 miles out, but you transition to this instrument arrival per se, and then into a visual situation. add in a nighttime operation. and you really are

adding a little bit more challenge to this whole recipe of, of flying this approach. it's it becomes routine. but many airlines require pilots, especially captains, to be with a what we call a check airman prior to beginning any sort of solo operation per se into reagan. but this this whole thing gets involved when you get closer to the ground. and this is where things went wrong. >> i'm going to ask you to put this in language that people who and that's the vast majority of people who have never flown a plane might understand if there's such a thing as, for example, a blind spot. i think a lot of people would have the belief that the technology tells you when there is something, another aircraft or something else in the air that is close to you. so help us understand that from both the perspective of the

american pilots and the blackhawk pilots. but then also in this scenario, at this point in these two flights, what is the role of air traffic control? >> yeah, it's. >> it's a very complicated question to unwrap, believe it or not. but let's do it. the basics. you're dealing with two separate types of aircraft, very different aircraft. you're dealing with with an airliner, okay. a smaller airline or regional jet that has visibility out the forward part of its cockpit and to a certain extent, it's blinded by some of the nose. and these pilots are looking forward where the helicopter is got limited visibility looking up potentially at this particular airplane. so there and now you're now you're doing this at night. so really what you're doing is you're looking for lights. and the airliner is at a very, very fast speed compared to this helicopter. obviously there is technology out there that's been in our cockpits for years that that does a

tremendous job of advising us that we might be getting too close to an airplane. we can do this without consulting air traffic controllers. if we hear what we call a resolution alert in our cockpit, we will climb and follow the instructions given to us in the cockpit, not from the controllers. the problem being is that below a certain altitude, these alerts are. muted because you're focused for the task of landing the aircraft. so that doesn't necessarily play into the game at that point. there. there is great technology for that. but at that point you're in a visual situation. and what the air traffic controllers are going to ask is, do you. >> see. >> this particular traffic? and as we have been repeating, as you have aptly been repeating on this show, we've heard the recordings and they asked the helicopter pilots, not the regional jet pilots, which is

not necessarily a problem, it's just that they had it potentially in sight. much easier, easier than or each other in sight. much easier than the than the airliner did. >> a remarkable job of helping all of us understand the challenges here. and thank you so much. and coming up in 90s, the local, state and federal reaction to the deadly plane crash in the nation's capital last night, and senator tim kaine of virginia will join us next. but first, new satellite images of the crash site showing the plane and helicopter debris littering the potomac river. littering the potomac river. we'll be right back. the first time you try bounce, it hits you. your laundry feels way fresher, softer. so you start to wonder. if i put a sheet of bounce on the finance guy, will it make him softer? bounce can't do it all but for better laundry, ♪ put a sheet on it with bounce. ♪ ♪♪ amazing. jerry, you've got to see this. i've seen it.

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these aren't all the side effects. in the darkness of bipolar i & ii depression, caplyta can help you let in the lyte. ask your doctor about caplyta. find savings and support at caplyta.com. >> we are back near the banks of the potomac river, where there are still more questions than answers at this hour. following the deadly midair crash near reagan national airport. joining us now is democratic senator of virginia, tim kaine. senator, i would say it is good to see you again, but certainly not under these circumstances. tragedy doesn't begin to describe it. and i just wonder what you're feeling and what you're hearing at this hour. >> well, i'm feeling immense sadness for the families that were affected and also a little bit of a sense of dread, because this is a small community. and when the list of names come out. >> the 60 passengers, the four crew, the three. >> service members.

>> you know. >> we're going to have some contacts. with them that people in the office will know them. people in other senate offices will know them. i've i've been through events like this before. and so you kind of dread hearing who has actually suffered as a result of this. i do want to praise the. first responders. you know, multiple jurisdictions local, state and federal. i was there at the airport at about 630 this morning. and to see them working so well together in the recovery operation and already starting the investigation, that's great. but look, we have a lot of questions. >> i think. >> there's going to be a briefing by the national transportation safety board, a public briefing later today, and you may have some sort of preliminary thoughts from them about what they're looking at, but clearly they're going to be looking at the flight paths of the two of the plane and the helo. and questions like where. >> were either. >> aware of each other, were they. aware through visual id, were they aware because of what they heard from air traffic control? were they aware because of instrumentation on board? had there been any changes to the

flight paths of either? that would have been, you know, last minute that could have affected the awareness of one for the other? those are the kinds of questions that we'll be digging into. the ntsb takes the lead on the investigation. they're good. >> they do a very good job. >> you don't speculate. you don't, you know, odd ideas out. you follow the facts, and you don't want to get blinded to the true facts because you have a hypothesis, that hypothesis that may turn out to be incorrect, but they do a good job and we'll know the answers. >> well, let me ask you about what president trump had to say today, because he had two specific points of criticism. one is that the ntsb, he said, history tells us takes a very long time to come to a conclusion. and he felt that the american people deserved answers. and so he put some of his own ideas out there, including suggesting that dei diversity, equity and inclusion policies had somehow played a role in this crash. what's your

reaction? >> well, my reaction is, that's sickening. it turns my stomach. imagine you're a you're a family member and you're grieving the loss of a family member. and you have the president of the united states telling you that your loved one was killed because of dei, when he has zero evidence and i mean zero, i mean less than zero to suggest that that's true. it's been reported today that president trump scrapped an aviation safety board that was advising the d.h.s. on january 22nd, maybe he wanted to change the subject and not have to answer questions about why he did that. there was not an there was not an faa administrator named okay. he's named somebody today. great. but his his decision to instead of comfort grieving families start to play a blame game is really sickening. and maybe there's something that he doesn't want to have the public pay attention to. >> it is likely that the ntsb will get to the bottom of this. they will figure out what

exactly happened here, and we don't know that this has anything to do with it. but i do want to ask you, senator, about last year, when you were among many lawmakers who warned against adding flights at reagan international because it's already so busy, did it did ultimately get passed as part of the faa reauthorization. but does that deserve, in your mind another look? >> it absolutely does. look, i have been raising concern about congestion at this airport for a very long time, and it really ratcheted up in connection with a bill that we passed last march. there was an effort by some in congress to put even more flights into this airport. this is a small airport. i was listening to some of your earlier guests. it's on a small footprint of land. it was designed to accommodate about 15 million passengers in and out a year. it's well over 20 million now because of the overuse of this particular airport, it has pretty significant delay issues.

and that kind of overuse can also lead to safety. i myself use this airport a bunch, and i have been, you know, in july, my wife and i were returning from a flight and we got very close to landing and had to do an emergency. you know, one of those where they pull up and they swing you around to land again because of some kind of activity on this very, very busy runway. and so i'm very troubled. i talked to my colleagues about that last year. i said it would be a mistake to try to jam more flights into this airport. and also, as your guests indicated, it's not just the airport. it's also a really complicated airspace. there are parts of this airspace over d.c. that are restricted. the intermixing of military flights and a number of military installations and commercial flight makes this very, very complicated. and so do i know that this was a factor? absolutely not. do i have confidence the ntsb will tell us if it is a factor i do.

>> virginia senator tim kaine, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us. of course. american eagle flight 5342 originated in wichita, kansas. coming up next on chris jansing reports, the mayor of wichita will stand by to talk about how the city is responding to this deadly crash. keep it right here on msnbc. >> just a sheer tragedy. we're all going to. know most people in wichita are. >> probably going. >> to know. >> somebody on that flight. you know, a family member. >> a coworker, a friend of a friend. so it's going to be a really tough time for a lot of wichitans coming ahead. >> of those 26. miles in the rain. yeah, framebridge can frame that with custom. >> framing made. >> easy. whether it's a pick or a picasso, framebridge will frame it with the highest quality materials. millions of. >> custom frames and counting. get started today. >> at framebridge.com. >> you'll be back. emus can't help people customize and save.

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>> school pills. get $30 off at ro covid. >> we are back live in virginia, not far from washington reagan airport. we're actually on the grounds of the airport. behind me is the potomac river. and the scene you're seeing right there is the ntsb, where they're expecting to give us an update on the investigation, on the recovery mission that's happening in the river behind me. this is all happening, of course, as the community of wichita, kansas, is coming together. earlier today, they mourned at a public prayer vigil. our arms. are extended in unlimited. compassion, care and love because we. >> are one wichita. >> when we come together as one, there is power in prayer. power

in community. we pray for comfort. >> as a town in. >> this time of uncertainty. uncertainty. and joining me now is the mayor of wichita, lily wu. madam mayor, thank you for being with us at this extraordinarily difficult time. i know that the community did come together. you had an opportunity to speak to the people who live in wichita. tell us what folks are thinking and feeling right now. >> as you can only imagine, right now, our entire. >> community is in mourning. >> i've been in office for as long as this. >> flight from. wichita to. >> washington. >> dc has been in operation. >> and we face many challenges. >> but nothing like this. >> and right now our community is praying. our community. is mourning. we're praying. for the individuals. on that flight. the families who. >> are. >> affected. the friends who are

unsure. >> if their friends. >> are on that flight. we are still waiting for a lot of information. >> to really be. released and confirmed. >> before we can react to that. but as one community. >> we came together. >> this afternoon. for a community. wide prayer. >> of all faiths. >> coming together. >> and. really praying. >> for healing, praying for comfort. >> praying for strength. >> and i believe. >> that that's what really. wichita is. >> trying to. >> signal to our country. >> here in. >> wichita, we are one wichita. we care. for kansans and we care for americans. and the entire world is mourning with us. >> one of your two u.s. senators, jerry moran, spoke, i think, in just the last hour. let me play a little bit of what he said. >> we're certain there are kansans. >> the flight. >> boarded in wichita. most of the. >> information that we've. >> not seen. >> a. >> passenger list. >> and the efforts.

>> at the moment are to notify. >> family members. >> can you tell us what kind of coordination there is right now between your office and folks in washington? >> well. >> i'm very appreciative. >> that. >> our federal. lawmakers who represent kansas have been in constant contact with the mayor's office. i also have been in constant contact with american airlines, who have given. >> me updates. unfortunately. >> no releases of names. >> or the manifest. and again. >> i am. >> being very. respectful that first and foremost, those loved ones need. >> to be contacted first. and i still. >> encourage people. if you feel like a family member or a friend may have been on that. flight to call that. >> one 800 number that american airlines has provided. but i also echo senator. moran's message. that we in wichita are a very united community, and we will know someone. or some people. >> who have been affected directly. and so at.

>> this moment, we just ask. >> that our community continues to pray and. keep their words and. >> their thoughts. to be positive. >> towards those. >> family members whom right now. >> are going through a very. >> difficult time. >> as we've reported, among the victims are figure skaters. the u.s. figure skating championships were held in wichita. an event of that magnitude of that importance doesn't just happen. there are years of planning. applications are made. the competition is tough. the decision was made to bring it to wichita. it was a very successful competition there. but what happens through those years, i know, is that relationships develop and you get to know people that you wouldn't otherwise know. and i just wonder at this moment what you would like to say about the u.s. figure skating championship, that community and the relationship that you had. >> well, our city was very honored to host the championships. for u.s. figure

skating. and i got to meet some of the athletes, as well as those. >> who are part of the organization. >> and my. >> heart's and. >> truly, all my prayers are being sent. >> to those. >> whom names have been released and come from other communities. i have reached out to other mayors. >> who these individuals. resided in. >> and really, right now, our entire community rallied behind this championship and hosting the figure skaters, their. >> families. >> the fans and our community is truly mourning the loss and we want to extend our heartfelt condolences. and also we are here for them as well. >> wichita mayor lily wu at such a very difficult time. thank you so much for coming on the program. our thoughts are with your community as well. and coming up, what we know about the victims on board that american airlines flight, plus the president of the flight attendants union will join us

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back there, because we know that there's a press conference that's about to start with the ntsb. in addition to that, we have a little bit of breaking news. a lot of traffic behind us. and this comes to us from our investigative team who are involved with aviation. here's what they found out. they obtained a dca tower staffing report. a source with knowledge of the situation tells nbc news that dca last night did not have the normal amount of people. it was not the normal amount of staffing for traffic at that time of day. this is according to a preliminary faa report. the same source says the dc tower usually has a controller, a separate controller who focuses on helicopter traffic. the faa guidelines allow for that position to be combined with another controller's position. so in other words, one

controller would take care of both airplanes and helicopters. and last night at the time of the crash, that position was indeed combined. the source goes on to say this is acceptable under faa standards, and the safety report is a preliminary internal review that has not been made public. but again, while often you will see air traffic controllers in charge of planes and a separate one in charge of helicopters, last night that position was combined. i want to go back to retired pilot who has done countless flights in and out of washington, reagan national. tell us your reaction to what we're hearing. i'm assuming this is not a surprise to you. you know what faa staffing is, but will it be something that the ntsb is looking into? >> yeah. >> it's an interesting development. no doubt. that being said that these two positions being combined means that you had somebody

experienced and senior that was working these combined positions. this is not an unusual circumstance. it doesn't necessarily jeopardize safety. we don't know if it even did at this point in time. i have been exposed to, you know, watching tower operations where, for instance, the ground controller, the one that controls the taxiing of aircraft, and the tower controller, the one that is watching aircraft take off and land, does the same position. sometimes when the controller is on a break, or if there's if there's limited traffic at a particular time of day. so it's an interesting development, whether it's going to play a factor into the ntsb investigation. it's hard to say. i would say most likely it will. >> lisa, thank you so much. let me go to emily ikeda, who is back here with me. the as far as we know, there are still folks who are in the waters who are

searching, diving. we expect that to continue, but we are getting some new information about the victims of this crash. what can you tell us? >> well, we continue. >> to see. >> growing makeshift memorials at a number of ice rinks throughout the d.c. area. with friends and family of the victims on board the plane, showing up and dropping off flowers and balloons and notes remembering those people. there were athletes on board the american airlines flight, along with coaches and family members as well, among them brielle beyer, just 12 years old, and her mom, according to her sister, who called the situation just absolutely heartbreaking. we're also just learning from a philadelphia skating club that some of their members were also on board the flight. and our nbc station in washington, d.c, speaking with the former husband of one of the coaches in this area, dina volskaya. take a listen here. >> dina was a unique. >> she was one of the best.

>> skaters i've ever seen, honestly. she was one of the best pair girls to skate. she. she was a russian all stars on ice. she toured with torvill and dean for years and years. >> and was one of the best. >> she never. actually competed at worlds or olympics. >> because her coach kept. >> her behind to do. >> all professional. >> sports and. >> everything, which. >> led her to disney on ice and she did amazing. there she was, the original. >> little mermaid. >> for little. mermaid and did an. >> incredible job. i was blown away and that's where i met her. >> we also know six people who were on. >> board. were from a boston skating club, including two athletes, their moms, and then also two coaches. former world champions who moved from russia to the united states in 1998. in terms of who else was on board passengers on that flight, a union representing plumbers,

technicians, pipefitters posting earlier today were heartbroken to share that four ü brothers were among the victims of the tragic crash of american airlines flight 542. may they rest in peace. they just updated that number to confirm it's actually five. there were also on board that plane, two flight attendants and two pilots. remember, officials say that everyone involved in this collision tragically died, including the three military service members on board the black hawk, which we were learning from two military officials includes a woman. and there was also an experienced flight instructor as well. chris. >> tragedy upon tragedy. emily okita, we appreciate your reporting and coming up more about what we know about the us army helicopter involved in that deadly mid-air collision over the potomac just behind me. you're watching chris jansing you're watching chris jansing reports tide pods ultra oxi one ups the cleaning power of liquid. can it one up whatever they're doing?

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since 2009. what would you like folks to know today? >> well, first of all. >> the flight attendants and. >> the. >> pilots, everyone. >> on. >> the front lines of aviation works. together to make. >> sure that. aviation is safe. >> and it is. >> the. safest mode of transportation. >> let me first express my condolences to the families of the flight attendants and the pilots and all of the passengers on board the other union members who we have lost and recognize that aviation safety cannot be taken for granted. so when we have a situation like this, we need to make sure that we are supporting. >> the. >> ntsb work to conduct a thorough investigation, not rush to conclusions and make sure that jennifer homendy, who is the chair of the ntsb and about to speak right now, has the ability to. >> conduct this. investigation without. >> any interference. >> in that. investigation so. >> that we can make the best changes or modifications necessary to. >> make. >> sure this never happens again.

>> sara nelson, thank you. let's go to the chairman of the ntsb. >> safety board. the national transportation safety board is an independent federal agency that's charged by congress with investigating every civil aviation and serious accident and serious incident in the united states and significant events in other modes of transportation. i want to start by expressing our deepest condolences, our sympathies on behalf of the entire board. for those who lost loved ones in this terrible tragedy. our thoughts, our prayers are with you. entire communities were affected and we are thinking of you. with me today is bryce banning. bryce is a senior aircraft accident investigator with the national transportation

safety board. he's also going to serve as our investigator in charge of this investigation. also with me today is the entire board. we have todd inman member todd inman. todd is going to serve as the board member on scene. the spokesperson for this investigation. all of the board members will be here. we have vice chairman alvin brown, member mike graham, who lived in wichita for 20 years. and we also have member tom chapman. the ntsb headquarters is just a mile from here. and so we are all here because this is an all hands on deck event, and we're here to assure the american people that we are going to leave no stone unturned in this

investigation. we are going to conduct a thorough investigation of this entire tragedy. looking at the facts. now, with that, i want to level set when we go to the scene. and we were here last night, we allow the responders to do their important safety mission, which in this case was search and rescue and recovery. we stand back to allow them to do their important safety mission. and so this for us is our first full day on scene with our entire crew coming together. we have about nearly 50 people on scene, and in addition to our resources back at headquarters, in our labs and throughout the agency. so with that said, we are not going to get into specific facts in this press

conference. i want to level set here. we're going to get into our investigative process as we are able to confirm factual information. we will provide that. i do want to say this is a whole of government effort. i was able to brief, along with others, the president of the united states and the vice president this afternoon. i want to thank them for their leadership, for their tremendous support of the ntsb, for our investigators, and for the responders that are on scene doing an important mission. i also want to thank secretary sean duffy, who i was communicating with early on after we first got word of this tragedy. we've been working together throughout the day, along with his team at the dot and within faa. i also want to

thank secretary pete hegseth, who was also integral in working with us today. chris rocheleau, the acting administrator of the federal aviation administration. we've heard from many members of congress on both sides of the aisle. and so i will say this is a tremendous one more time, whole of government effort. i also want to take a moment and thank the many, many responders that have been on scene. it has been an incredible effort, and i will have a full list that i will provide that we will provide tomorrow. but i do want to thank them for all their work. with that, i'm going to turn it over to member inman for additional remarks. >> so today.

>> is our. >> first full. >> day on scene. >> our investigative. >> team will be on. scene as long as. it takes, in. >> order to obtain. >> all the perishable evidence and all the fact finding that is. needed to bring us to. >> a. >> conclusion of probable cause. >> our mission. >> is to understand not just. >> what happened. >> but why it. >> happened, and to recommend. >> changes to prevent it from. >> happening again. >> since we're just beginning. >> our investigation. >> we don't have a great deal. >> of information to share. >> right now. >> we will keep you informed by giving. >> regular updates. >> as we learn more. >> our intention is to have a preliminary. report within 30 days. >> and the. >> final report will be issued. once we've completed. >> all. >> of our fact. >> finding and. >> investigation. now, we will not. >> be determining. >> the probable cause of the accident. >> while we are here on. >> scene, nor will we speculate about. >> what may have caused. >> this accident. >> today we. >> will. be going. >> and having an organizational.

meeting and establishing. >> our parties. >> to our investigation. >> we currently have the following parties. >> that are. >> already identified. >> psa airlines. ge aerospace. >> sikorsky. faa. nacta, which represents the air traffic controllers. >> alpa. >> which represents. >> the pilots. army apha. >> which represents. >> the flight attendants. >> the transportation. >> safety board of canada will be an. >> accredited representative. >> under annex. 13 of icao. they will be supplemented. by mh irg as a technical advisor. they were previously known. >> as bombardier. >> bombardier sorry. the ntsb offers this party status to those companies, government agencies. >> and associations. >> that. have employees, activities. or equipment involved in the accident. >> we offer that because they will provide technical. >> expertise and. >> relevant information. >> supporting the development.

>> of the. >> best possible. >> factual record. once they join. this investigation, they are not. >> permitted to release documents or talk publicly. >> about the investigation without the consent of the ntsb. >> so i want. >> to. stress this. it is only the ntsb that will provide information related to this investigation. with one exception regarding the fatalities that occurred. that notification will be handled by the d.c. medical examiner. we will not be discussing. fatalities or names. that will be handled by them as the proper authority. so we want to talk. >> a little bit. >> about our process. we will analyze the facts and determine the probable cause of the accident, and then issue a report of. >> those determinations. >> i also. >> want to talk a little bit about some additional people. >> that are here with us. and they're very important. >> to us, and that. >> is our family assistance group. later today we will be briefing the families. >> we normally. >>