What we know so far

A passenger plane that transported 64 passengers and crew has crashed into a river in Washington DC after it crashed in the air with a helicopter from the US army.

Eighteen bodies have been taken from the Potomac River so far, where the search and rescue teams are touring the waters in icy temperatures, according to a police officer who spoke with the BBC transmission partner, CBS News.

The authorities are investigating, and the nearby Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport has founded all flights.

Around 9:00, local time (02:00 GMT) on Wednesday, a PSA Airlines plane operates like American Airlines 5342 collided with a helicopter from the US army. UU. When approaching Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, according to The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The passenger plane, a Bombardier Crj700, left Wichita, Kansas and wore 60 passengers and four crew, said American Airlines.

The Pentagon said that the helicopter involved was a Sikorsky H-60 ​​who took off Fort Belvoir in Virginia.

Three American soldiers were on board, said Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser. Another official said he was on a training flight, and belonged to B Company, 12th Aviation Battalion of Fort Belvoir in Virginia.

A clip published online and reviewed by CNN, aims to capture the air traffic control conversation in the moments before the accident. According to reports, you can listen to a controller to warn the helicopter on the plane, but not receive an answer. The audio has not been verified by the BBC.

FAA said it would investigate the incident, together with the National Transportation Security Board (NTSB).

Washington DC officials have refused to confirm victims reports during a press conference, saying that they are focused on continuing their rescue effort during the night, which they describe as challenging.

However, a police officer in the place told CBS that 18 bodies had been taken out of the water.

The artistic skating of the United States said that “several members of our skating community were sadly on board” of the flight. He said that this group was composed of athletes, coaches and relatives who returned home from a development camp in Kansas.

The first reports in the US media said the passenger plane could be seen divided in half in the Potomac River, while the helicopter was the other way around in the water.

About 300 responders have been deployed in rubber ships to search for survivors, said Washington DC Fire and Emergency Services, John Donnelly.

“The challenge is access, there are wind, ice pieces (in water). It is dangerous and difficult to work,” he said.

Ari Schulman told NBC Washington that he saw the clash of the plane while driving at George Washington Parkway, who runs along the airport.

He said that the plane’s approach seemed normal, until he saw the hard airplane bank on the right, with “sparks” running underneath, illuminating his belly.

At that time, he said he knew it seemed “very, very bad.” Having seen plane landings there in the past, he said that the lower part of an plane should not have been visible in the dark.

The sparks, he said, resembled a “giant Roman candle” and passed from the nose of the plane to his tail.

Jimmy Mazeo said he saw the clash while having dinner with his girlfriend in a park near the airport.

He remembered to have seen what looked like a “white flare” in heaven. He said the airplanes flying to Ronald Reagan airport seemed to fly in “irregular patterns.”

Mazeo said he didn’t think much about what he saw until emergency services began to reach the scene.

President Donald Trump said he had been completely informed about the “terrible accident” and that he was monitoring the situation closely.

“May God bless his souls,” he said in a statement. “Thank you for the incredible work done by our first to respond.

In his real social networks account, he has also asked questions about how the incident could have happened, writing: “This is a bad situation that seems to have been avoided. It is not good!”

Vice President JD Vance requested prayers for those who were in the incident.

The Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegesh, and the Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, whose appointments were recently confirmed, also said they were monitoring the situation.

When asked if the flight routes near Ronald Reagan airport would be changed after the incident, Duffy said that “we will take the appropriate measures if necessary.” He added: “There will be a review of what happened here tonight.”

The American Airlines CEO, Robert Isom, expressed his “deep pain” on collision in a video that has been published on the airline website.

That was reputed by Roger Marshall, an American senator who represents Kansas, where he had traveled the plane. He described a “heartbreak without measure.”