Possible plane crash wreckage washes up along Potomac River shoreline

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (DC News Now) — Possible wreckage from January’s deadly midair collision washed up along the Potomac River in Alexandria on Sunday.

It’s been more than 7 months since the Jan. 29 crash near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), which killed all 67 people on board an American Airlines jet and a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter.

Andrew Guevara was walking his dog along the Mount Vernon Trail when he spotted something floating along the edge of the Potomac River Sunday evening.

“It’s surreal. I guess that’s the best way to say it. I really couldn’t believe it,” Guevara said. “There was what looked like a tray table latch. There was a leather pouch. It was a blue pouch at the bottom. Knowing what happened back in January, you just kind of put two and two together. I stopped some passersby and asked them, too, ‘Hey, what does this look like?’ And they’re also like, yeah, that kind of looks like an airplane seat.”

Guevara called the authorities. He said Alexandria Police Departmetn officers arrived and jumped down to the river’s edge to retrieve what looks like part of an airplane seat, just about two miles away from where the deadly midair collision happened near DCA.

“Especially given how serious the situation was when it happened, and even though it’s seven months later, it’s still part of a tragedy. It’s still part of what happened. I think it’s important that it gets to the right people,” Guevara said.

D.C. police confirmed Tuesday they received the possible plane wreckage and are holding onto it before transferring possession over to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

The NTSB’s investigation is ongoing.