WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Embassy in the United States said on Thursday that two Chinese citizens were among the victims in the mid-air collision of a passenger plane and a helicopter near Reagan National Airport Wednesday night.

In a statement obtained by Xinhua, the Chinese Embassy expresses its deep condolences to all the victims and offers heartfelt sympathy to their families.

The embassy has requested the U.S. side to verify the details of the incident and formally inform the Chinese side, and to provide the victims' families with assistance in handling the aftermath.

The statement said the embassy will also offer consular protection and assistance within its responsibilities.

The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed that both black boxes, which refer to the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, from the American Airlines plane have been recovered.

An internal report by the Federal Aviation Administration suggested that the controller on duty when the deadly aircraft collision happened in Washington, D.C. was doing a job usually handled by two people, The New York Times quoted a preliminary report as saying on Thursday.

Staffing at the air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport was "not normal" during the deadly accident, the report said.

It added the controller who was handling helicopters in the airport's vicinity on Wednesday night was also instructing planes that were landing and departing from its runways -- jobs typically assigned to two different controllers.

The mid-air collision involved an American Airlines regional jet that had departed from Wichita, Kansas, with 60 passengers and four crew members on board, and a military Blackhawk helicopter with three U.S. Army soldiers.

U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed there are no survivors in the collision at a press conference in the White House on Thursday. Enditem

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