Firefighters arrived on the scene in a fire boat just seven minutes after receiving the alert about the midair collision between a military Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines jet. The general president of the International Association of Fire Fighters described the challenging conditions faced by the responders. The swift current in the river, jet fuel contamination, debris, and ice made the rescue attempt difficult and risky.
Close to 50 divers were involved in responding to the incident, highlighting the scale of the operation. A civilian dinner boat that had broken the ice in the Potomac River the day before played a crucial role in enabling smaller boats to reach the crash site.
