Updates of Washington DC Plane Crash Live: Thirty bodies recovered after the flight of American Airlines undertook with helicopter

Simon King
BBC meteorological presenter and meteorologist

Although the cause of the accident is still unknown, the moment when there is an airplane incident near an airport, a detailed weather observation is taken.

Investigators will then use this information to determine if the time has had an impact.

We know that the accident occurred around 9:00 p.m. local time (02:00 GMT), and although there is a clear sky with visibility of more than 10 miles (16 km), there were winds in gusts At that time around Washington DC.

The wind came from a west-northwest direction with a speed of 16 MPH (26 km / h), with 26 mph (42 km / h).

The American Airlines flight will have used track 33 (direction 330º), which means that it would almost be landed in the wind (290 °), as an airplane would normally do.

However, there is always a wind of wind component which is something that pilots are aware in any landing.

In this case, the backwind on the surface was 10 MPH at 17 MPH (16-27 km / h). It is within the limits of the plane and the ability of a pilot to land, so I am sure that there would have been no weather concerns when approaching.