Washington crash: Helicopter said to have been flying outside approved path before collision

New details about the collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines jet over the icy Potomac River suggest that the UH-60 Black Hawk might have been flying too high and off its approved flight path. Staffing at the Reagan National air traffic control tower was also "not normal," according to a preliminary FAA report.

The crash killed 67 people, whose bodies were being recovered Thursday from the icy Potomac.

Details about the helicopter's final location indicated that it was not on its approved route, but was in a different location and higher above the ground as it traversed the busy airspace just outside the nation's capital, according to four people briefed on the matter but not authorized to speak publicly.

The internal FAA report, which was reviewed by The New York Times, said the controller who was handling helicopters in the airport's vicinity Wednesday night was also instructing planes that were landing and departing from its runways -- jobs typically assigned to two different controllers. A supervisor combined those duties sometime before 9:30 p.m. Wednesday and allowed one air traffic controller to leave, according to a person briefed on the staffing, who was not authorized to speak publicly.

President Donald Trump promised Thursday that a thorough investigation would be conducted, while also engaging in political attacks on his predecessors.

Among the victims aboard Flight 5342 were several figure skaters from the United States and Russia who had attended the national figure skating championships in Wichita, Kansas, where the American Eagle flight originated.

Here's what else to know:

The collision: American Airlines said 60 passengers and four crew members were aboard the jet, and the military said the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter was on a routine training flight. The two collided a little before 9 pm as the jet was on its final approach to Reagan National.

The plane's path: Shortly before the crash, the jet's pilots were asked to pivot their landing route from one runway to another, according to a person briefed on the event and audio recordings of conversations between an air traffic controller and the pilots.

The investigation: The National Transportation Safety Board recovered the plane's "black boxes" -- a cockpit voice recorder and a flight data recorder -- and has taken them for lab analysis, according to a spokesperson.

The victims: In addition to the many figure skaters aboard the flight, several friends returning to the East Coast from a duck hunt in Kansas were on the plane. The two pilots, 34 and 28, had been flying for years. A full list of those who died has not yet been released.

The pilots: Robert Isom, the CEO of American Airlines, stressed the pilot's experience but provided no additional details. Two Army officials confirmed that the pilots of the helicopter -- one woman, one man -- and a male staff sergeant were killed in the collision.

New administration: The crash confronts the new Trump administration with one of its first major disasters. It happened just a day after Sean Duffy was sworn in as transportation secretary, and in the first week of Pete Hegseth's tenure as defense secretary.