Captain Sully’s theory on Washington plane crash, as black boxes and audio recovered

New detail has surfaced about the passengers killed and air traffic control staff involved in a mid-air crash in Washington DC. World famous hero pilot Captain Sully has also revealed his theory. Follow updates.

What we know:

– There were no survivors, said US President Donald Trump and US officials

– More than 40 bodies have been recovered from the plane and three from the helicopter

– The Skating Club of Boston confirmed several of its members were on the AA flight

– Some bodies were still strapped to their seats

– The American Airlines plane black boxes have been recovered

– Inflatable boats, dive teams and helicopters searched in below freezing temperatures

– Dive ops are done for the day due to difficult-to-see conditions

– One controller, rather than the usual two, was handling both plane and helicopter traffic at the time of the crash. A supervisor allowed another air traffic controller to leave early, according to the New York Times.

– Another plane was involved in a near miss with a helicopter at the airport a day earlier

The air traffic control tower at Washington DC’s airport was understaffed when a passenger jet collided in midair with an Army helicopter, with the tragedy unfolding a day after a military chopper forced another plane to abort its landing.

The alarming revelations emerged as authorities continued to retrieve the bodies of 67 victims – 64 of whom were flying in from Kansas and three soldiers on a Black Hawk training flight – from the Potomac River after the first major commercial crash on US soil since 2009.

According to a preliminary safety report from the Federal Aviation Administration, seen by The New York Times, the controller handling helicopters near Ronald Reagan National Airport on Thursday night (local time) was also instructing landing and departing planes.

Those jobs would usually be handled by separate people. It was later reported that an air traffic control supervisor gave another controller an early mark some time before 9.30pm, according to a someone who was briefed but not authorised to speak publicly about the investigation.

The supervisor then had combined duties.

“Tower, did you see that?” a pilot said in chilling audio recorded in the aftermath of the incident, with an air traffic controller adding: “Crash, crash, crash, this is an alert three.”

Shortly before the collision, the American Airlines jet was asked to shift to a different runway, a move that raised fresh questions about congestion at one of America’s busiest airports.

And the Washington Post reported that 24 hours earlier, another plane notified the air traffic control tower that it had to make a sharp turn and then a second approach to land, having received an emergency alert that it was at risk of a collision with a military helicopter.

A number of experts have weighed in on how the disaster could have occured, including Captain Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger, 74. He said flying over water at night could have been the cause of the crash because it would have been harder to see.

Sully, who landed a passenger plane on the Hudson River in 2009, told the New York Times, “There would have been fewer ground lights visible over the water than over land at night.”

“Nighttime always makes things different about seeing other aircraft — basically all you can do is see the lights on them.”

“You have to try to figure out: Are they above you or below you? Or how far away? Or which direction are they headed? Everything is harder at night.”

Sully was played by Tom Hanks in the 2016 movie named after him about the flight, directed by Clint Eastwood.

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Originally published as Captain Sully’s theory on Washington plane crash, as black boxes and audio recovered