The clearest photographs of this week’s devastating airborne collision near Washington, D.C., were released on Friday in surveillance footage taken from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
First seen on CNN and later confirmed by NBC News, the 12- and 17-second clips seemed to depict American Airlines Flight 5342 descending to DCA before a U.S. Army Black Hawk chopper approached from the left.
It looks like the chopper hits the plane’s underside, igniting a huge explosion that sends both craft into the Potomac River below.
The two videos, which seem to have been captured on a cell phone, were not made public by airport authorities.
Three Army servicemen on the Black Hawk chopper and all 60 passengers and four crew members on American Eagle Flight 5342 are thought to have perished.
According to NBC News, the jet’s black boxes—recorders that recorded data and messages from the cockpit—have been found and may hold the key to revealing how the tragedy happened.
According to officials, the American Eagle aircraft, which originated in Wichita, Kansas, carried a number of figure skaters, coaches, and parents who had attended a development camp for talented, up-and-coming artists.
Over the weekend, the traveling group had been in Wichita to watch the U.S. national finals. Then, before leaving on Wednesday, a number of the young athletes who are considered to be the future generation of top American skaters remained behind for this camp.