Over 1,300 federal employees impacted by the Department of Education's March 11 reduction in force received their official separation notices Thursday, according to copies reviewed by ABC News. It is with great regret that I must inform you that your position is being abolished and you have been reached for reduction in force (RIF) action, the notices read, in part. The RIF was one of the first major steps in massively reducing the Education Department after President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to close the agency on March 20. Both Trump and McMahon have suggested they will continue reducing the size of the agency and return education power and decisions to the states. The president has said that the RIF'd employees either weren't showing up to work or they weren't good at their jobs. But the notices explained that the separation is not based on performance evaluationsit is due to the reduction in the number of positions at the agency. The notices also said that employees have the right to appeal this reduction. In addition, laying off people without going through the civil service protections is illegal, according to NAACP Chief of Policy and Legislative Affairs Patrice Willoughby. What they're doing is illegal, Willoughby told ABC News. They know it's illegal. It creates damage to people. They're damaging not only what they say is the deep state really dedicated federal workers who are working professionally on behalf of education families and young people but they're also damaging these families and these kids in these communities, many of them who voted for this administration and the constituents of these senators and representatives, who are saying nothing about it. The letter sent on Thursday is a required 60-day notice alerting federal employees of their final days, according to a source familiar with the matter. Until those 60 days are up, the affected employees are on paid administrative leave. On June 10, they will no longer be employed. ED appreciates the service you have rendered, the notice said, adding, We deeply regret that this decision affects you, and we recognize the difficulty of the moment. Last month the department announced that about half of its 4,000-plus employees were eliminated either through its reduction, voluntary separations or retirements. Dozens more probationary employees were let goand then rehired after a court order overturned the administration's terminations. Chief Human Capital Officer Jacqueline Clay sent the official email, with the subject line of Notice of Separation Due To Reduction In Force, between 3 and 4 p.m. ET along with associated documents, including information on employee benefits and severance pay. The notices were sent in accordance with an executive order titled Implementing The President's Department of Government Efficiency Workforce Optimization Initiative, according to the copies reviewed by ABC News. Over the past month, the impacted civil servants have cleaned out their offices if they worked in person and are no longer allowed in the Education Department's buildings. They have no work responsibilities, and they do not have access to emails or systems and servers. Civil servants who shared the notices with ABC News said the letters make the reduction feel more real. It is sad for us but also the students who undoubtedly will be harmed by this, one employee who received the notice told ABC News. Another department employee whose entire office was eliminated said that they feel numb. We knew it was coming but still unbelievable, they said, adding, No explanations of why offices were abolished. My office was congressionally mandated and statutorily required. There are no answers. New York City helicopter crash latest: Authorities search for answers after 6 killed An investigation is underway into the helicopter crash that killed six peoplethe pilot and a family of Spanish touristswhen the chopper plunged into the Hudson River between New York City and New Jersey on Thursday. A wreckage exam is now underway. The helicopter's engine and other components have been pulled off the wreckage to be closely examined, National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said at a news conference Friday. Divers on Friday are still working to recover other pieces of the helicopter, including the main rotor, the main transmission, the roof structure and the tail structure, Homendy said. Homendy asked the public to send any photos and videos of the crash to the NTSB. The family on board was Siemens executive Agustin Escobar, 49, his wife, Merce Camprubi Montal, 39, and their children, ages 4, 8 and 10, officials said. The family came to New York City to join Escobar, who was in the U.S. for a business trip, according to Jersey City Mayor Fulop. The family died one day before the 8-year-old's birthday, according to New York City Mayor Eric Adams. We are working with [the medical examiner] to expedite release of the family to fly back to Spain, Fulop said on social media Friday. Joan Camprubí, the brother of Merce Camprubí Montal, joined Adams at a press conference Saturday afternoon, saying this a difficult time for the family. They left together, they left without suffering, and they left with a smile on their faces, he said. He said he wants to remember the family that way as well. Camprubí said they are grateful for the support they have received from Spain, Catalonia, the U.S., New York, New Jersey and Siemens. The family wishes to move the bodies to Spain soon, so they can rest in peace together, Camprubi said. Adams added that he had dropped flowers as a symbolic gesture for the lives lost in the helicopter crash, including Sean Johnson, who was in the Navy. He fought to defend his county, said Adams. Our words cannot bring back their family members, but it is out way of saying as New Yorkers we stand united with this family during this moment of grief, Adams said. Their grief is our grief. Their sorrow, is our sorrow. Also killed was the pilot, 36-year-old Seankese Sam Johnson, officials said. Johnson, who had served in the military, accumulated 788 hours of total flight time, the NTSB said. Johnson was an amazing man, said Matt Klier, his friend from the Navy and a fellow helicopter pilot. The man was an amazing pilot, Klier told New York ABC station WABC, adding, That's all he wanted to do. The chopperwhich was operated by the New York Helicopter Tours companyfell into the 5-feet-deep Hudson River near Jersey City, New Jersey, on Thursday afternoon, just over 15 minutes after it departed from the Wall Street Heliport, officials said. Video from the crash showed the chopper plunging into the water without a tail rotor or a main rotor blade. It was found upside-down in the 50-degree water when rescuers arrived at the scene. We are devastated, a representative of New York Helicopter Tours told ABC News. My staff hasn’t stopped crying. New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters four victims were pronounced dead at the scene. Two others later succumbed to their injuries, she said. Officials at the Jersey City Medical Center, where the passengers were transported after the crash, tried as hard as they could to save the injured, Fulop told ABC News. Fulop said the city has had concerns about the air traffic over the Hudson River before and is hoping this brings more attention to their safety concerns. President Donald Trump called the crash terrible on social media and said the footage of the accident is horrendous. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said in a post to X that the news was an unimaginable tragedy. Dani Horbiak told ABC News she watched the helicopter fall out of the sky from her apartment window. I heard five or six loud noises that sounded almost like gunshots in the sky and saw pieces fall off, then watched it fall into the river, she said. It sounded like a sonic boom, another witness told WABC. He said he saw the helicopter splitting in two with the rotor flying off. The chopperidentified by the Federal Aviation Administration as a Bell 206 helicopterwas on its sixth flight of the day. The company operating the helicopter has been in business for more than 30 years and has a fairly strong safety record. The NTSB has issued two reports: In 2015, one of their leased helicopters made a hard landing in New Jersey after the pilot had trouble controlling the chopper in 2013, a helicopter with a family from Sweden on board made an emergency landing in the water following a maintenance issue.