An NTSB-led investigation is in full swing to identify factors that led to the Jan. 29 midair collision between an American Eagle Bombardier CRJ-700 operated by PSA Airlines on approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) and a U.S. Army Sikorsky UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter.

A few minutes before the jet was to land, air traffic controllers asked American Airlines Flight 5342 if it could do so on a shorter runway, and the pilots agreed. Controllers cleared the jet to land, and flight tracking sites showed the plane adjust its approach to the new runway.

During the news conference, NTSB member Todd Inman said the military helicopter was also equipped "with some form of recording." "We feel comfortable and confident" the boxes would be recovered,

There were 64 people on board the plane, a Bombardier CRJ-701-twin engine aircraft, while three soldiers were on the UH-60 helicopter, The Associated Press reported. Within about 12 hours after the crash,

Sixty-four people aboard a commercial airliner died Wednesday night after it collided with a military helicopter midair near Reagan Washington National Airport. Both the American Eagle jet and Army Black Hawk are in the Potomac River.