American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the deadly midair collision between an American passenger jet and a military helicopter, will be the lone authority on the cause and details of the crash.

American Airlines confirmed to PEOPLE on Friday, Jan. 31, that flight 5342 will cease to exist. The airline is retiring the number following the tragic collision in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Jan.

No chute or slides appeared to be deployed from the American Airlines plane, according to J. Todd Inman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board. “It was a very quick, rapid impact,” he said.

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom shared a letter to all employees sharing updates and resources following the deadly mid-air collision.

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said the airline has activated its care team to assist in recovery efforts after one of its jets collided with a helicopter.

Two days after an American Airlines flight crashed in Washington, D.C., an air ambulance carrying six passengers—including a pediatric patient—crashed down in Northeast Philadelphia.

Investigators found the recording devices, or black boxes, from the American Airlines plane and Black Hawk helicopter that crashed on Wednesday.

An Army Black Hawk helicopter collided midair with an American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas, at Reagan National Airport on Wednesday.

Business Insider reviewed official briefings, flight data, and air traffic control audio tapes to piece together what happened before tragedy struck.

After a 60-passenger American Airlines flight and U.S. Army helicopter collided mid-air Jan. 29, a man shared the final text messages he received from his wife aboard the aircraft. “I left his house and got in my car and I called my wife first and I was crying, because I knew he did it," Ron Shipp said about OJ Simpson.