I was living in McLean at the time of the plane hitting the bridge.  There was total tv coverage by the local stations and to sit and watch the events as they were happening was an awful thing to watch.  There was another hero whose name I forget who dived into the icy Potomac and kept helping to the shore.  Following this incident new regulations were passed for deicing planes before take-off.  This plane was not properly deiced before leaving National Airport which is the cause of the accident.