American Airlines is activating its CARE Team, trained to offer support, to deploy to Washington, D.C. and Wichita, Kansas.
American Airlines CEO Robert Isom sent a memo, dated Thursday, to team members a day after an American Eagle plane and military helicopter collided and crashed into the Potomac River, writing, in part, “The strength of the entire airline is focused on taking care of the families and loved ones of those on board.”
The memo also said the airline activated its CARE Team, trained to offer support, to deploy to Washington, D.C. and Wichita, Kansas.
Watch NBC 5 free wherever you are

NBC 5 spoke with Ken Jenkins, a former emergency response manager for the airline. Jenkins is not involved in the current DCA crash response. He said an airline typically establishes a Family Assistance Center to support the families of the people on board.
“The airline, for example, would have received a mass notification call last night that something's happened,” Jenkins said. “They would have been on a conference call discussing how they're going to deploy. Then, somebody is doing a site visit to find out where what's a good location for a Family Assistance Center that is close to the accident site.”
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning with NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.

Jenkins tells us the center is meant to be a central hub where families can receive briefings on the crash and ask questions.
“It isn't just information about what happened,” said Jenkins. “Of course, they want to know what happened, what caused the accident, how do we prevent the accident? Did my loved ones suffer, for example? When will I get their body back? When will I get the personal effects back? All of those kinds of things.”
The team may also handle immediate needs like coordinating travel, childcare and hotel stays for family members.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
Between 1994 and 2004, Jenkins said he deployed to eight different events with the airline, including 9/11. Jenkins then worked for a private company that specializes in personal effects recovery and has since responded to additional aviation events