Star Metro - Grim search for plane crash bodies as Trump doubles down

Twenty six bodies remain lost in the icy Potomac river where a regional passenger jet and a military Black Hawk helicopter fell after colliding in a fireball on Wednesday night.

Rescuers have scoured the murky waters day and night, and have now recovered 41 bodies.

They were also looking for the helicopter's black box after retrieving the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the Bombardier airliner operated by an American Airlines subsidiary.

The gruesome physical search is running parallel with a complex technical analysis of what went wrong.

The airliner was coming in to land at Reagan National Airport -- just a few miles from the White House -- when it collided with an Army helicopter on a training mission.

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) member Todd Inman said a preliminary report should be compiled in 30 days but "the overall investigation will probably take a year."

"It has to be accurate," he told CNN. "We're not going to put something out quick just so we can end some speculation."

Inman's caution was in pointed contrast to Trump's loud and politicized commentary ever since the first moments after the plane -- on a routine flight from Wichita, Kansas, with 64 people aboard -- slammed into the Black Hawk, carrying three.

- 'Not really too complicated' -

Trump was at it again Friday, posting on his Truth Social platform: "The Blackhawk helicopter was flying too high, by a lot. It was far above the 200 foot limit. That’s not really too complicated to understand, is it???"

This followed a torrent of posts and a press conference on Thursday where the Republican pinned the blame for the crash on his Democratic predecessors Joe Biden and Barack Obama, claiming without evidence they had hired the wrong people due to anti-racism and other non-discrimination initiatives known as DEI.

"They actually came out with a directive: 'too white.' And we want the people that are competent," Trump said.

Online discussions buzzed with conspiracy theories fed by Trump's anti-DEI crusade.

Aviation experts, meanwhile, homed in on whether the helicopter crew were able to see through military night-vision goggles and whether the Reagan National control tower was understaffed.

According to a New York Times report, one controller, rather than the usual two, was handling both plane and helicopter traffic at the time.

Just 24 hours before the collision, another plane coming in to land at the airport had to make a second approach after a helicopter appeared near its flight path, The Washington Post and CNN reported, citing an audio recording from air traffic control.

- 'Speculation' -

Inman said the investigation would resist political pressure.

"Yes, absolutely," he told CNN. "There's a lot of people that have speculation and want to be heard in that regard. We understand that, but our job is to find, ultimately, what caused this and prevent it in the future."

The head of the Air Line Pilots Association likewise pleaded for official investigators to be allowed to do their work.

"A lot of details and speculation will come out in response to this tragedy, but we must remember to let the investigation run its course," Captain Jason Ambrosi said in a statement.

The collision was the first major crash in the United States since 2009.

Two Chinese citizens were also among the victims of the crash, state news agency Xinhua reported, citing the Chinese embassy.

A Filipino police officer was also on board, Philippine police said.

M.Anderson--SMC