An American Airlines regional passenger jet and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed into the Potomac River after a mid-air collision near Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday night, officials said.
At least 18 bodies have been recovered, US-based CBS News reported, citing a police official. The official said no survivors had been found so far.
The Washington Post, citing sources, said multiple bodies had been pulled from the water. No survivors had so far been found, the newspaper reported. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas said on social media that “we know there are fatalities”, though he did not say how many.
American Airlines confirmed that 64 people were aboard the jet — including 60 passengers and four crew members. Three soldiers were aboard the helicopter, a US official said.
Some friends, family and relatives of passengers gathered at Reagan Washington National seeking more information.
One woman told an airport official “I don’t know if she got on there or not”, in apparent reference to a passenger on the crashed jet. She then collapsed in tears.
US President Donald Trump said in a statement that he had been “fully briefed on the terrible accident which just took place at Reagan National Airport”. “May God bless their souls,” he added.
“Thank you for the incredible work being done by our first responders. I am monitoring the situation and will provide more details as they arise.”
The US Army said in a statement that it could “confirm that the aircraft involved in tonight’s incident was an Army UH-60 helicopter out of Fort Belvoir, Virginia. We are working with local officials and will provide additional information once it becomes available”.
There has not been a fatal US passenger airplane accident since February 2009, but a series of near-miss incidents in recent years have raised serious safety concerns.
A web camera shot from the Kennedy Center in Washington showed an explosion mid-air across the Potomac about 9:47pm (7:47 PKT) with an aircraft in flames falling rapidly.
The US Federal Aviation Administration said a PSA Airlines CRJ700 regional jet collided midair with the helicopter while on approach to Reagan. PSA was operating Flight 5342 for American Airlines, which had departed from Wichita, Kansas, according to the FAA.
Police said multiple agencies were involved in a search and rescue operation in the Potomac River, which borders the airport.
Dozens of police, ambulance and rescue units, some ferrying boats, staged along the river and raced to positions along the tarmac of Reagan airport. Live TV images showed several boats in the water, flashing blue and red lights.
The airport said late on Wednesday that all takeoffs and landings had been halted as emergency personnel responded to an aircraft incident.
Witness Ari Schulman described “a stream of sparks” and what looked like a large firework when the nighttime collision erupted overhead as he drove home.
“Initially I saw the plane and it looked fine, normal. It was right about to head over land,” he told CNN.
“Three seconds later, and at that point it was banked all the way to the right … I could see the underside of it, it was lit up a very bright yellow, and there was a stream of sparks underneath it,” Schulman added. “It looked like a Roman candle.”
The National Transportation Safety Board said it was gathering more information on the incident.
