A police official at the scene told CBS there were three debris fields in the water. Two sources told Reuters multiple bodies had been pulled from the water.
The jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew collided with the helicopter while landing, prompting a large search-and-rescue operation in the nearby river.
There was no official word on casualties or the cause of the collision, but all flights at the airport were grounded for the night as agencies across the region flew over the scene in search of survivors.
Inflatable rescue boats were launched into the Potomac River from a point near the airport along the George Washington Parkway, just north of the airport.
Rescue teams have searched the Potomac River for survivors. (EPA PHOTO)
US President Donald Trump said he had been "fully briefed on this terrible accident" and, referring to the passengers, added, "May God Bless their souls."
Defence Secretary Pete Hegesth said Wednesday's night's events are "absolutely tragic".
In a post on X, he said the search and rescue efforts were ongoing and an investigation has been launched immediately by the army and defence department.
Latest below. Absolutely tragic. Search and rescue efforts still ongoing. Prayers for all impacted souls, and their families.— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) Investigation launched immediately by Army & DoD. pic.twitter.com/WdUnYV4UJzJanuary 30, 2025
The Federal Aviation Administration said the crash occurred around 9pm local time on Wednesday when a regional jet that had departed from Wichita, Kansas, collided with a military Blackhawk helicopter while on approach to an airport runway.
It occurred in some of the most tightly controlled and monitored airspace in the world, just south of the White House and the Capitol.
Investigators will try to piece together the aircrafts' final moments before their collision, including contact with air traffic controllers as well as a loss of altitude by the passenger jet.
American Airlines flight 5342 was inbound to Reagan National at an altitude of 120m and a speed of about 220km/h when it suffered a rapid loss of altitude over the Potomac River, according to data from its radio transponder. The Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ-701 twin-engine jet was manufactured in 2004 and can be configured to carry up to 70 passengers.
A few minutes before landing, air traffic controllers asked the arriving commercial jet if it could land on the shorter Runway 33 at Reagan National and the pilots said they were able. Controllers then cleared the plane to land on Runway 33. Flight tracking sites showed the plane adjust its approach to the new runway.
Less than 30 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller asks the helicopter if it has the arriving plane in sight. The controller makes another radio call to the helicopter moments later: "PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ." Seconds after that the two aircraft collide.
The plane's radio transponder stopped transmitting about 2400 feet short of the runway, roughly over the middle of the river.
The tower immediately began diverting other aircraft from Reagan.
Video from an observation camera at the nearby Kennedy Centre showed two sets of lights consistent with aircraft appearing to join in a fireball.
Officials are yet to release any information on casualties from the plane and helicopter collision. (AP PHOTO)
The incident recalled the crash of an Air Florida flight that plummeted into the Potomac on January 13, 1982, that killed 78 people. That crash was attributed to bad weather.
The last fatal crash involving a US commercial airline occured in 2009 near Buffalo, New York. Everyone aboard the Bombardier DHC-8 propeller plane was killed including 45 passengers, two pilots and two flight attendants.
Another person on the ground also died, bringing the total death toll to 50. An investigation determined that the captain accidentally caused the plane to stall as it approached the airport in Buffalo.
with Reuters
