Washington DC plane crash: Black boxes found as airport staffing ...

Divers spent most of Thursday swimming through the icy waters of the Potomac River, searching for the bodies of victims.

The search was suspended on Thursday evening due to dangerous conditions.

There were 64 passengers aboard the American Airlines flight that collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter that was on a training mission flight. Three soldiers were on board.

Teams have so far recovered 27 bodies from the plane and one from the helicopter.

At a White House briefing on Thursday, President Donald Trump began with a moment of silence and a prayer for victims.

He said "we can only begin to imagine the agony that you're all feeling", adding, "our hearts are shattered alongside yours".

Trump speculated on the cause of the collision, suggesting without evidence that lower hiring standards for air traffic controllers in the FAA under previous administrations run by Democrats may have been a factor.

Later on Thursday, he signed a memorandum to end diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices in the aviation sector.

DEI programmes aim to promote participation in workplaces by people from a range of backgrounds. Backers say they address historical or ongoing discrimination and underrepresentation but critics argue they can themselves be discriminatory.

Trump also signed an executive order to appoint a new head of the FAA.