That’s a wrap – thank you for reading the Need to Know blog today. These were some of the main stories:

• Black box recovered from crashed plane in Washington DC: The black box from the passenger jet that crashed into a military helicopter over Washington DC has been recovered.

• Australians suffering through ‘worst collapse’ of living standards: Dutton accused Labor of a “collapse” in productivity, noting that real wages have shrunk while businesses experienced 27,000 insolvencies over the past two years.

• PM refuses to confirm when he was briefed on caravan explosives: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has refused to say if he was or was not briefed at the time when the caravan of explosives was found.

• Caravan plot could have been most catastrophic terrorist attack in Australian history: Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says that if the caravan with explosives had been carried out, it would have been the “most catastrophic terrorist attack in our country’s history”.

• Helicopter, jetliner collision nation’s worst air disaster in a generation: A midair collision between an army helicopter and an American Airlines flight from Kansas killed all 67 people aboard the two aircraft, officials said on Thursday, as they scrutinised the actions of the military pilot after the country’s worst aviation disaster in a generation.