Investigators have recovered the black boxes from the passenger plane whose mid-air collision with a military helicopter over Washington's Potomac River killed 67 people.

64 people were on board the American Airlines flight from Wichita Kansas heading for Reagan Washington National Airport and the US Military has confirmed three soldiers were on board the Black Hawk chopper.

Yesterday, officials upgraded the search effort to a recovery operation – with the belief there are no survivors of the crash.

On Newstalk Breakfast, The Guardian Washington Bureau Chief David Smith said a preliminary report into the incident can most likely be expected in 30 days.

“At least 27 bodies have now been recovered from the Potomac River - no survivors, that was confirmed,” he said.

“We do have the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from these aircrafts - they're now being studied in the laboratories for evaluation.

“The other main thing we've learned is the identities of some of those who were killed and they include 14 ice skaters and coaches, including two 16-year-olds.

“So that particular sporting community is in grief and there were also two Chinese citizens on the plane.”

Photo by Leigh Vogel/UPI Credit: UPI/Alamy Live News

Mr Smith said there are some conflicting reports about understaffing at Reagan Airport.

“The New York Times and others wrote about the staffing levels being not normal for that time of day and volume of traffic and this idea that there was just one air traffic controller dealing with both arriving and departing planes where you would normally expect two,” he said.

“But there have been other reports and sources saying, in fact, the staffing was at the normal level.

“Certainly, I think it points to a wider issue that there's been concern for some time over under staffing and underfunding of these resources.

“You hear some experts suggesting they did fear it was only a matter of time before a tragedy like this happened because the system was stretched very thin.”

Departure signs display an "Emergency Alert" in the terminal at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.  (AP Photo/Jeannie Ohm)

Mr Smith said President Trump’s reaction to and politicisation of the crash is “pretty extraordinary”.

“I was at the White House press briefing delivered by Donald Trump - it was pretty extraordinary, even by Trump standards,” he said.

“When you think of past American president’s moments like this, they often step up as the consoler in chief.

“People like Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton and Barack Obama - and Trump seemed to begin that way, holding a moment silence.

“But then he quickly pivoted into really launching these political attacks on his predecessors and in particular targeting Diversity Equity and Inclusion programmes, which have become a regular punch bag for him.”

Emergency response after American Airlines flight 5342 collided with a Blackhawk helicopter by DCA airport on Jan. 29, 2025. (Photo by Joshua Sukoff/Medill News Service)

Mr Smith said Trump accused his predecessor’s policies of not producing “the best and the brightest” in terms of air traffic controllers.

“There was all this talk of how air traffic controllers require superior intelligence and you've got to be the best and the brightest and [how] his predecessor’s policies hadn't produced those,” he said.

“It was pretty bizarre at a moment when [America] was looking for comfort.

“He was throwing out opinions at a moment when people were calling for facts and he got fierce criticism for it.

“Pete Buttigieg, the former transportation secretary, described this outburst as despicable and there's been other blowback as well.”

Mr Smith said it is appearing like the reason for this crash was simply that it was a tragic accident.

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Dozens are feared dead after American Eagle regional jet and Army helicopter collide and crash into Potomac River. 30/01/2025 Photo: UPI/Alamy Live News