Scene of crash in Potomac River
Scene of crash in Potomac RiverREUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

The National Transportation Safety Board has recovered the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder—commonly referred to as black boxes—from the American Airlines plane that collided with a military Black Hawk helicopter at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday, the agency told CNN on Thursday.

The black boxes are now being sent to NTSB laboratories for analysis, where investigators hope they will offer insight into the cause of the crash, which sent both aircraft into the Potomac River.

The American Airlines flight, which was traveling from Kansas, had 64 people on board when the collision occurred. The military helicopter was carrying three soldiers.

As of Thursday evening, at least 30 bodies had been recovered from the crash site, including all three soldiers aboard the helicopter, according to US media reports.

“We don’t believe there are any survivors,” D.C. fire and EMS chief John A. Donnelly said Thursday during a news conference.

Recovery efforts have been paused until Friday, a source familiar with the operation said.

American Airlines confirmed to CNN that it will resume its regional service from Wichita to Reagan National Airport on Friday.

An FAA report on the incident, obtained by The Associated Press, stated that staffing levels in the air traffic control tower were “not normal.”

According to the report, a single air traffic controller was handling two positions at the time of the crash, describing the setup as “not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic.”

However, a person familiar with the situation told AP that staffing levels were appropriate on Wednesday night. They explained that controllers frequently manage multiple positions when stepping away for breaks, during shift changes, or when air traffic is light.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association declined to comment on the details of the crash, stating that “it would be premature to speculate on the root cause of this accident.”