A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Investigators have retrieved the cockpit voice and flight data recorders from the American Airlines jet that collided with an army helicopter Wednesday night.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The crash, which occurred over the Potomac River, killed 67 people. We're also beginning to learn the identities of some of the crew on those aircraft.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR's Frank Langfitt has been following this story. Frank, so what will investigators be hoping to find out from the black boxes of that regional jet?
FRANK LANGFITT, BYLINE: Yeah, A, I think the final conversations in the cockpit, obviously, before the two aircraft collided. They'll also be able to see about the plane's performance, data points, and including - and I think this is really important - the altitude of the plane leading up to and at the time of the collision. It's not yet clear how these two aircraft, who are supposed, of course, to pass at a safe distance, how they ended up in the same place at the same time.
Of course, also are going to need the Army Black Hawk black box to be able to compare. And a question that's really coming up, I think, particularly yesterday talking to people at NTSB is, was that helicopter on the right flight path? The Black Hawk's recorder, as far as we know right now, is still in the river, but the National Transportation Safety Board - they're very confident they'll retrieve it.
MARTÍNEZ: OK. What do we know about the crew of the American Airlines jet?
LANGFITT: Yeah, we've got some confirmations here. The pilot was Jonathan Campos, who's 34, the first officer, a man named Sam Lilley in his late 20s. Both based in Charlotte. Really avid flyers. And Lilley is a second-generation pilot. His father, Tim, used to fly for Air Wisconsin. And writing on Facebook yesterday, Tim Lilley wrote that Sam's career had been going very well, and he was engaged to be married in the fall. And he wrote this. He said, now it hurts so bad I can't even cry myself to sleep. Now, later today, we should learn the identities of the three service members who were crewing the Black Hawk.
MARTÍNEZ: OK. Frank, there are reports that the Federal Aviation Administration has said that the controller handling helicopters was also instructing planes, and that's a job normally done by two people. So did federal investigators have anything to say about that?
LANGFITT: Yeah. This was an FAA report that's been quoted by a number of news sources. NTSB - this is one of the board members - a guy named Todd Inman spoke yesterday. And he said they had not reviewed any specific reports about the controllers but said, of course, as a matter - of course, you know, you're going to be looking at what was going on in the control room and with the controllers. This is what he said.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TODD INMAN: Our investigators are continuing to pull all that information. Their personnel records, their files, where they were at, whether they were fatigued. All that information will be part of that investigative process.
LANGFITT: And, you know, A, that's not ideal, but analysts say it's also not unusual and not necessarily dangerous, depending on how much traffic is going on at the time.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. So today, another day of searching. What are people hoping to find out today?
LANGFITT: Yeah, I mean, just more information. You know, the NTSB yesterday, down at Reagan National, you know, during the press conference, they didn't say very much, and they're planning another briefing today. And typically, it's the second day where you learn a bit more. You know, yesterday was just the first day the team was on the ground, and I'm actually looking at photos right now of NTSB workers opening up those black boxes from the airliner. And federal investigators, what they're really emphasizing is they want to be really careful about confirming facts before they pass them on. And there should be a preliminary report on this accident. It should be completed in about 30 days.
MARTÍNEZ: Thirty days. OK. That's NPR's Frank Langfitt. Frank, thank you.
LANGFITT: Good to talk, A. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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