Several people have died after a passenger plane and a helicopter collided in mid-air in Washington DC.
The incident occurred late on Wednesday evening, around 10pm local time, when an American Airlines plane carrying 60 passengers and four crew was en route from Wichita, Kansas, to the American capital.
The crash site is centred on the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. A US official said three soldiers were aboard the helicopter, which was on a training flight.
Emergency services chief John Donnelly has warned that conditions are “extremely rough” amid little light and icy temperatures.
Emergency services are at the scene in the Potomac river
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Map showing the final moments of an American Airlines passenger plane just before it collided mid-air with a military helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River
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An emergency response team with Washington, DC Fire and EMS make their way to airplane wreckage in the Potomac River
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According to reports, authorities have recovered 18 bodies so far
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US President Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social page: “Why didn’t the helicopter go up or down, or turn. Why didn’t the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane. This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!”.
Web camera footage from the Kennedy Center in Washington showed an explosion mid-air across the Potomac about 8.47 pm (1.47am GMT) with an aircraft in flames falling rapidly. PSA was operating Flight 5342 for American Airlines, according to the FAA.
American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said in a video statement: “We’re cooperating with the National Transportation Safety Board in its investigation and will continue to provide all the information we can.”
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.
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CEO of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority John E. Potter addresses the media
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Emergency services at the scene
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Emergency alert is displayed on screens at Ronald Reagan National Airport
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American Airlines CEO Robert Isom told a press conference: “We’re cooperating with the National Transportation Safety Board in its investigation and will continue to provide all the information we can.”
Air traffic control recordings appear to capture the final attempted communications with the helicopter, call sign PAT25, before it collides with the plane, described as CRJ.
“PAT25, do you have a CRJ in sight? PAT25, pass behind the CRJ,” an air traffic controller says at 8.47 pm (1.47 GMT), according to a recording on liveatc.net.
Seconds later, another aircraft calls in to air traffic control, saying, “Tower, did you see that?” – apparently referring to the crash. An air traffic controller then redirects planes heading to runway 33 to go around.
An emergency response team with Washington, DC Fire and EMS and DC Police load diving equipment on a boat to continue working the scene of airplane wreckage
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Russian state-run TASS news agency reported Russian figure skaters and coaches Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were aboard the American Airlines plan.