Lasers help the search for debris in the river after an air collision near DC

The crews which continue to search for debris from the deadly collision of a jet of passenger and the army helicopter near Washington, DC, used a plane equipped with lasers to scan the bottom of the Potomac river Early on Saturday, said the National Transportation Safety Board.

Large pieces of jet and helicopter, as well as the remains of the 67 victims, were recovered last week. The crews will spend the next few days in search of smaller debris before finishing the work in about a week.

A plane operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and equipped with a laser scanning technology stole at low altitude on the accident site. Lasers are used to penetrate the surface of the river and map the river bed.

“All the main pieces” of the two planes were found, and the investigators will examine them for all the markings that could reveal the angle of the collision, according to a statement from the National Transportation Safety Board published on Saturday afternoon.

The agency said that the information collected will be part of its current investigation into the January 29 collision between the army helicopter and an American Airlines flight. There were no survivors.

President Donald Trump blamed the collision on Thursday to what he called an “obsolete” computer system used by American air controllers and has promised to replace it.

National Transportation Safety Board officials told Congress members that the helicopter’s advanced surveillance technology, which transmits the location of planes and other data on air traffic controls and other planes, was Disabled, the Texas Ted Cruz Republican Senator said on Thursday.

Investigators also study the altitude of the plane and the helicopter, especially if the helicopter was above his 200-foot flight ceiling.

The accident has been the deadliest in the United States since November 12, 2001, when a jet struck a New York district just after takeoff, killing the 260 people on board and five on the ground.