No survivors feared after plane collides with helicopter over Potomac River

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office this afternoon that “incompetence” might have caused the crash.

Asked if race or gender played a role in the collision given his comments on DEI in the morning, Trump said, “It may have. I don’t know.”

“Incompetence might have played a role. We’ll let you know that. But we want the most competent people. We don’t care what race they are. We want the most competent people, especially in those positions,” he said.

“You’re talking about extremely complex things, and If they don’t have a great brain, a great power of the brain, they’re not going to be very good at what they do and bad things will happen.”

Asked this morning how he came to the conclusion that diversity played a role in the crash, Trump said, “Because I have common sense, okay?”

Reed M. Kimbrough, a former Army helicopter pilot, said it would be premature to make any conclusions about the cause of the midair collision in Washington, D.C., before an investigation is complete.

But he was not totally surprised that the tragedy occurred between an American Airlines plane and an Army Black Hawk helicopter, he said, because night vision goggles can impact a pilot’s depth perception.

Kimbrough, who flew from 1978 to 1986, said, “There’s a lag in vision as the night vision goggles recalibrate from looking inside at the instruments to back outside,” he said, potentially making objects initially seem farther away than they are.

He added that the helicopter “seemed to be flying too high. The mandated height of flying for a helicopter around that airport, with the ambient lighting near it, is 200 feet.” Reports said the helicopter was between 300 and 350 feet at collision.

Reporting from Ashburn, Virginia

Outside of the Ashburn Ice House in Virginia, Jeff Winch said that his daughter Alexis lost four friends and a coach in the plane crash.

Winch said he and his wife told their daughter the news this morning.

“We don’t want her to hear from anybody else at school, so we had a conversation this morning. At first, she didn’t quite understand what we were trying to tell her, and then I was a little more blunt with, you know, ‘You’ve lost friends last night,'” he said, recalling his conversation with his daughter.

“I don’t know how to process this,” Winch added later.

His 10-year-old daughter Alexis recalled her favorite memories with friends who were on the plane, including watching Nationals together, spending time with a friend who “would always be there to talk to me and support me,” playing games and a coach who created a “creative and artistic” program.

A makeshift memorial at the Ashburn Ice House.Megan Lebowitz / NBC News

Another mother, Theresa Terry, came to the ice skating facility to drop off flowers for a memorial inside. She said her 22-year-old daughter knew two people on the flight with their parents and was “inconsolable.”

“I’m a mess,” Terry said, recalling the many trips she made with her daughters who have been heavily involved in figure skating.

“There’s just no words to describe how awful it is, how terrifying, and how sad it is for these families,” she said.

Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said in a briefing today, “We’re certain there are Kansans on the flight boarded in Wichita.”

He noted that he hasn’t seen a passenger list yet and won’t know the number or names of Kansans impacted until the family members of the victims are notified. 

“That’s taking place. It started last night and continues throughout the day, and we’ve been monitoring our folks back home,” he said.

He said it’s likely many Kansas families will be affected or know someone impacted, adding, “We’re going to continue to receive some pretty damaging and sad and serious news.”

National Transportation Safety Board Jennifer Homendy said the board will analyze what human factors played a role in the crash, in response to questions from reporters after President Donald Trump implied that diversity, equity and inclusion could have played a role

“As part of any investigation, we look at the human, the machine and the environment,” Homendy said. “So we will look at all the humans that were involved in this accident.”

Homendy said she had attended a briefing with the president about the NTSB’s investigation.

When asked about the president’s comments about potential causes of the crash, Homendy said NTSB often deals with speculation and that the board needs time to gather information, evaluate data and determine a probable cause.    

“We take a very careful approach,” Homendy said. “We look at facts on our investigation, and that will take some time.” 

The National Transportation Safety Board has yet to recover flight data recorders after the Potomac crash, according to Jennifer Homendy, the chair of the independent board. 

“We have not recovered the flight data recorders yet. We know they’re there. They are underwater. This is not unusual for the NTSB. We have many times recovered flight data recorders underwater,” Homendy said. 

J. Todd Inman, a board member, said the agency expected to recover flight data recorders from both the passenger aircraft and the military helicopter involved in the crash.

NTSB leaders said they plan to produce a preliminary report of the Potomac crash within 30 days, but offered little new information.

“We are going to conduct a thorough investigation of this entire tragedy, looking at the facts,” said Homendy. “We have nearly 50 people on scene.” 

The NTSB is an independent, nonpartisan board that investigates transportation incidents for the federal government, including all civilian aviation crashes. 

Video recorded by veteran pilot Chuck Smith offers a sense of the flight path that jets take on their approach to Runway 33 at DCA.

Jets fly up the Potomac River, over the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge and over land before turning left to cross the river on their final approach right before touchdown.

Flight Aware shows that the last data from the flight’s Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, a precision tracking program also known as ADS-B, put it at an altitude of 375 feet with a latitude and longitude just off the eastern bank of the river.

A preliminary FAA report on the collision found that air traffic control tower staffing at Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) was “not normal” for the amount of air traffic and for the time of day, a source with knowledge of the situation told NBC News.

The tower typically has a controller that focuses specifically on helicopter traffic. But at the time of the crash last night, the source said, one controller at DCA was overseeing both airplane and helicopter activity.

FAA guidelines do allow for this position to be combined, permitting one controller to control both airplanes and helicopters.

The Loudoun County and Fairfax County public school systems have confirmed that members of their communities are among the victims of last night’s crash.

“Our hearts are broken as we learn that we have lost members of our FCPS family in the tragic accident at Reagan National Airport last night,” Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Michelle Reid said in a statement posted today. “I invite you to join me in praying for our families, friends, and colleagues, that we know have lost loved ones in this tragic accident.”

It is not immediately clear whether the individuals are current or former students or staff.

Loudoun County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Aaron Spence confirmed that “multiple victims” of the crash were former students. “We extend our deepest condolences to all those grieving in the wake of this tragedy,” Spence said.

Resources such as consultations with mental health professionals and crisis counseling are being made available by both school systems to staff, students and their families.

Both Loudoun and Fairfax County are populous suburbs of the Washington, D.C., metro area.

Sens. Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran said they are grieving with their fellow Kansans following last night’s air catastrophe. 

Marshall said he wants answers on what happened regarding communication between air traffic controllers and the aircraft involved, as well as whether transponders were properly working.

“I have two large, large, large concerns about what transpired here. First thing is the communication between the air traffic control and the helicopter and the plane … There’s no direct communication between the civilian and the military helicopter and airplane. Instead, it has to go through air traffic control and then it’s relayed, rather than an opportunity back and forth,” he said. 

“I think my biggest concern, though, is about these transponders … As I understand it, these transponders should communicate back and forth so one aircraft will know where the other one is, and warnings go off if they get too close,” he continued.

“Folks, this is one of the busiest airspaces in America, and for some reason, those transponders between this military helicopter and the civilian jet do not communicate with each other. I don’t know why they would be allowed in this airspace if they don’t communicate with each other. I think it just set up for failure.”

Two-time Olympic medalist Nancy Kerrigan broke down in tears while speaking of the young skaters who were lost in last night’s plane crash near Washington, D.C.

“Much like everyone here has been saying, I’m not sure how to process it,” a sobbing Kerrigan told reporters in Norwood, Massachusetts, home of the Skating Club of Boston. “I’m sorry, which is why I’m here.”

The 55-year-old Stoneham native, who won bronze in 1992 and silver 1994, was joined by 1956 gold medalist Tenley Albright in a meeting with reporters.

Albright said Wednesday night’s tragedy brought back terrible memories of the 1961 crash that killed 18 members of the national team.

“Yes, there were really 22 of my friends on that plane in 1961 on their way to the world championships,” Albright said. “I’m sure I would have gone there to cheer them on, but I was in my last year of medical school and couldn’t go. And I remember years later, people looking at me very strangely. They were talking about and they thought, ‘Weren’t you on that plane?’ And I wish the ones that were on that plane weren’t. And I don’t know how to handle this.”

Kerrigan, right, is embraced while arriving at The Skating Club of Boston with fellow Olympic skater Tenley Albright.Charles Krupa / AP

Reporting from Arlington, Virginia

As names of those killed in the plane crash began to spread through the Washington, D.C., area figure skating community, mourners gathered at the MedStar Capitals Iceplex in Arlington, Virginia, to pay their respects.

A procession of youth skaters and their parents stopped to leave flowers and other mementos at a makeshift memorial to three young skaters who are believed to have been killed in the crash.

El, a 14-year-old competitive skater who knew the three skaters and asked that her last name not be published, said they were all extremely talented and kind. Her mother pulled her out of school this morning to deliver the news of her friends’ deaths, which was first shared by a coach on social media.

“They did not deserve this,” she said as her mother sat next to her, wiping away tears. “Their families did not deserve this.”

The Communication Workers of America (CWA) posted on X that two members of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA were on board the America Eagle plane that collided last night with an Army helicopter over the Potomac River.

“Our union is grieving along with all those affected,” the post read.

Additionally, there were four members of Plumbers, Pipefitters and Steamfitters Local 602 on board.

“Our focus now is on providing support and care to the families of our Brothers as we continue to gather more information in the coming days,” Union Association General President Mark McManus and UA Steamfitters Local 602 Business Manager Chris Madello said in a joint statement.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told NBC News today that he was “dreading in my heart” that something like this crash would happen after an FAA bill that authorized five additional flights to Reagan Washington National Airport was passed last May.

While the senator said he was not yet ready to draw the connection between the bill and the crash, he noted he’s “always been concerned” about congestion in the area.

“I’ve been praying that there wouldn’t be something like last night, but kind of dreading in my heart that there would be,” Kaine said.

“The National Transportation Safety Board will do an investigation of this, and I have high confidence in them, they’ll look and see what was the cause of this devastating tragedy, and I’m not going to speculate,” he added.

Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., praised the Trump administration’s response to the crash, but sidestepped a question on the president’s remarks speculating about the role DEI may have had in the collision.

“I have no knowledge about that. If there’s evidence of that, it’s certainly something that our commerce committee, subcommittee will be interested in. The goal is to make sure that every American can fly safely,” Moran told reporters when asked about Trump’s remarks.

Moran also said that figuring out the cause of the crash was still a work in progress. 

“Nothing has been said to me, or to my knowledge to the public, about any cause, what occurred exactly that caused the accident,” he said. “I think the primary focus at the moment is reaching out to families, notifying families and offering the opportunity for families to gather, here in D.C., and across the country.”

He added that he was “very pleased” with the administration’s handling of the crash, and had spoken to the heads of the Defense and Transportation departments.

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg responded to President Trump’s allegations that Buttigieg mismanaged the Department of Transportation, calling the president’s comments “despicable.”

During a White House news briefing this morning on the D.C. plane crash, Trump called Buttigieg a “disaster,” saying, “Do you know how badly everything’s run since he’s run the Department of Transportation?”

Buttigieg called his remarks “despicable,” adding that “as families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying.”

“We put safety first, drove down close calls, grew Air Traffic Control, and had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights on our watch,” Buttigieg said in a post on X.

“President Trump now oversees the military and the FAA,” he said, adding that it’s “time for the President to show actual leadership and explain what he will do to prevent this from happening again.”

President Donald Trump said today he is immediately appointing an acting commissioner to the Federal Aviation Administration — Chris Rocheleau, a 22-year veteran of the agency. 

Rocheleau joined the FAA in 1996 and left for nearly four years in 2002, in the early days of the Transportation Security Administration, to serve as a senior policy adviser.

At the FAA he served in various roles, including deputy assistant administrator for policy, international affairs and environment, as well as chief of staff, according to Aviation International News. He further spent 10 years serving in the U.S. Air Force. 

During his remarks, President Donald Trump questioned the movements of the Black Hawk helicopter before it crashed into the American Eagle jet.

“You had a pilot problem, from the standpoint of the helicopter. I mean, because it was visual, it was very clear night. It was cold, but clear and clear as you could be,” Trump said.

The president went on to say the helicopter “had the ability to go up or down, had the ability to turn.”

“You could have gone up, you could have gone down. You could have gone straight up, straight down. You could have turned, you could have done a million different maneuvers,” Trump said.

Trump added that “all of this is going to be studied, but it just seems to me from a couple of words that I like to use, the words common sense, some really bad things happened, and some things happened that shouldn’t have happened.”

When taking questions later on, Trump seemed to backtrack and say, “I’m not blaming the controller.”

“I’m saying there are things that you could question, like the height of the helicopter, the height of the plane being at the same level, going in opposite directions,” the president said before ending the news conference.

Vice President JD Vance, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth added to Trump’s criticisms of DEI, saying “we can only have the best and the brightest.”

“We want to hire the best people, because we want the best people at air traffic control, and we want to make sure we have enough people at air traffic control who are actually competent to do the job,” Vance said.

“If you go back to just some of the headlines over the past 10 years, you have many hundreds of people suing the government because they would like to be air traffic controllers, but they were turned away because of the color of their skin,” the vice president continued, without providing evidence of the claim.

Hegseth said that federal agencies should only “have the best and brightest in every position possible.”

“As you said in your inaugural, it is colorblind and merit based, the best leaders possible, whether it’s flying Black Hawks, flying airplanes, leading platoons or in government, the era of DEI is gone at the Defense Department, and we need the best and brightest, whether it’s in our air traffic control or whether it’s in our generals, or whether it’s throughout government,” Hegseth said.

Duffy also referred to having the “best and the brightest,” saying the crash was “unacceptable.”

“We are going to take responsibility at the Department of Transportation and the FAA to make sure we have the reforms that have been dictated by President Trump in place to make sure that these mistakes do not happen again and again,” Duffy said.

President Donald Trump targeted former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in his remarks on the deadly D.C. plane crash, saying Biden’s “policy was horrible.”

“We must have only the highest standards for those who work in our aviation system. I changed the Obama standards from very mediocre at best to extraordinary,” Trump said, without providing evidence or citing specific policy.

“And then when I left office and Biden took over, he changed them back to lower than ever before. I put safety first, Obama, Biden and the Democrats put policy first, and they put politics at a level that nobody’s ever seen because this was the lowest level,” he continued, adding, “their policy was horrible, and their politics was even worse.”

Trump went on to blame a “FAA diversity push” that “includes focus on hiring people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities that is amazing.”

The president then turned to Buttigieg, saying, “Do you know how badly everything’s run since he’s run the Department of Transportation?”

“He’s a disaster. He was a disaster as a mayor. He ran his city into the ground, and he’s a disaster. Now he’s just got a good line of bulls—,” Trump said.

President Donald Trump called the deadly collision a “a tragedy of terrible proportions” and confirmed there were no survivors as he addressed reporters in the White House briefing room this morning.

“The work has now shifted to a recovery mission. Sadly there are no survivors,” he said.

The president began his remarks with a moment of silence for the victims and their families, telling reporters, “I speak to you this morning in an hour of anguish for our nation.”

He added that a “massive search-and-rescue mission was underway throughout the night, leveraging every asset at our disposal, and I have to say, the local, state, federal military, including the United States Coast Guard in particular, they’ve done a phenomenal job.”

“This was a dark and excruciating night in our nation’s capital and in our nation’s history and a tragedy of terrible proportions as one nation, we grieve for every precious soul that has been taken from us so suddenly,” Trump said.

Doug Zeghibe, CEO of The Skating Club of Boston, said 14 skaters returning home from the national development camp in Wichita, Kansas, were killed in the crash.

Of those, six were from the Skating Club of Boston — two coaches, two teenage athletes and the athletes’ mothers. 

Those six were identified as athlete Jinna Han; Jinna’s mother, Jin Han; athlete Spencer Lane; Spencer’s mother, Christine Lane; and coaches Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova. 

“Skating is a very close and tight-knit community,” he told NBC Boston, tearing up. “I think for all of us, we have lost family.”

He called Shishkova and Naumov “top coaches — they were the 1994 world pair champions and they came to us in 2017 and were very much a part of our building the competitive skating program.”

He said this wasn’t the first plane tragedy for the club. 

“In 1961, the entire world team of U.S. figure skating en route to the world championships in Prague was lost in a plane crash in Belgium. Almost half of everybody on board that plane were from this club. It had long reaching implications for this skating club and for the sport in this country because when you lose coaches like this, you lose the future of the sport as well.”

Women embrace today in the reception area of the Skating Club of Boston in Norwood, Mass.Robert F. Bukaty / AP

Nicholas Toto / 610_Aviation

The American Eagle plane (N709PS) involved in a collision with a Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River last night taxis on the tarmac in Allentown, Pa., in 2021.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the helicopter crew involved in the crash was “fairly experienced” and was doing an “annual proficiency training flight” at the time of the collision.

Hegseth said the three crewmembers were from the Bravo Company 12th Aviation Battalion at Fort Belvoir, an army base in Virginia that’s about 14 miles away from the airport.

“It was a fairly experienced crew that was doing a required annual night evaluation. They did have night vision goggles,” Hegseth said in a post on X. He did not identify the crew members, because their families are still being notified.

Hegseth said the collision is already being reviewed by “an investigative team from our aviation safety center.”

“We anticipate the investigation will quickly be able to determine whether the aircraft was in the corridor and at the right altitude at the time of the incident,” he said.  

President Donald Trump will address the deadly plane collision in a press briefing at 11 a.m. ET, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post.

The briefing will be held in the White House’s James S. Brady Briefing Room, per Leavitt’s post.

The midair collision of the American Eagle plane and a military helicopter last night is the first fatal disaster involving a U.S. commercial aircraft in years. 

The tragedy comes 16 years after a Bombardier DHC-8 propeller plane crashed into a house near Buffalo, New York, on Feb. 12, 2009. All 45 passengers, including four crew members, were killed, along with one person on the ground.

On Nov. 12, 2001, a mere two months after the 9/11 terrorist attack, another American Airlines flight crashed in New York and killed all 260 people on board, resulting in the highest death toll for any single airliner crash in U.S. history.

D.C.’s midair collision also evoked another disaster in the Potomac almost four decades ago, when an Air Florida flight crashed in 1982, killing 78 people.

As many as 14 figure skaters are feared dead in the midair collision over the Potomac River, Skating Club of Boston CEO Doug Zeghibe said.

“It’s a major loss for our skating community,” Zeghibe told reporters in Norwood, Massachusetts.

Six victims of last night’s tragedy were affiliated with Skating Club of Boston: two coaches, two skaters and their two mothers, according to Zeghibe.

The skaters were identified by the club as as Spencer Lane and Jinna Han and their moms, Christine Lane and Jin Han.

Wichita Mayor Lily Wu told reporters this morning that “our hearts are heavy as a city.”

“We mourn with all those who have been impacted. This is a terrible tragedy that will unite those in Washington, D.C., and Wichita, Kansas, forever,” she said.

Wu said that she does not yet know a final confirmation of the individuals who were on the flight, but that no names would be released until their families had first been contacted.

The mayor added there will be a communitywide prayer vigil today at noon in Wichita City Hall.

“Our community needs to come together to support the family members who have been impacted, to come together in honor of those individuals on that flight,” Wu said.

Emergency response units in Arlington, Va., today.Andrew Harnik / Getty Images

No black boxes have been recovered from the crash scene yet, according to a National Transportation Safety Board source. 

A black box is a flight data recorder that records information from the aircraft and its journey.

Aviation expert John Cox and Jeff Guzzetti, a former NTSB and FAA investigator, join “TODAY” to analyze the events leading up to the collision of an American Airlines passenger flight and a military chopper near Washington, D.C., last night, including the flight conditions, landing path and air traffic control communications.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the collision last night was “absolutely” preventable. 

Duffy told reporters today the helicopter and civilian jet were in a “standard pattern” last night, and there was “standard communication” between the aircraft and the air traffic control tower. He said that experienced pilots were involved. 

“Everything was standard in the lead-up to the crash. Obviously something happened here,” he said. 

He later said he believes President Donald Trump’s claim that the incident was preventable was true. 

“To back up what the president said, what I’ve seen so far, do I think this was preventable? Absolutely,” he said. 

The airport will reopen at 11 a.m. ET today, Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority CEO Jack Carter said during the press conference.

“We’re going to open the airport up at 11 o’clock. It’s safe,” Carter said.

“We’ve worked with all the federal agencies, the FAA, and you know, it’s been determined that we can open that airport safely,” he continued.

Carter added that individual airlines will announce and communicate their flight plans with customers as the airport returns to normal functions.

A recovery center has been set up to receive remains from the Potomac River crash at the D.C. Fire Helipad at South Capitol Street SW.

Boats and ambulances were seen arriving to transfer human remains to red tents acting as a temporary morgue in the area.

The D.C. medical examiner said the recovery operation is the largest undertaken in D.C. in decades. In a press conference today, Fire and EMS Chief John A. Donnelly said authorities believed there were no survivors from the crash.

Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP – Getty Images

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., urged the public to be patient as authorities get answers to last night’s deadly crash.

“Sorrow, thanks and questions. Sorrow, as all have expressed, to the crew, to the passengers, to the soldiers, to their families, to their friends, to their loved ones, to people who are still trying to get information and unsure whether their loved ones have been lost,” he said at this morning’s news conference. “We offer our profound condolences to them and our sorrow for this tragedy.”

He said there will be many questions that the National Transportation Safety Board will now be tasked with answering. 

“It’s not a time to speculate. It’s a time to investigate and get answers to the questions we need, and I’m confident that will be done.”

Despite a mammoth search and rescue operation, Fire and EMS Chief John A. Donnelly said during a press conference early today that there were not believed to be any survivors from the midair collision over the Potomac River.

“We are now at a point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” he said. “At this point, we don’t believe there are any survivors from this accident.”

At least 28 bodies have been pulled from the water, he said. Of those, 27 were from the American Eagle civilian jet and one from the U.S. Black Hawk helicopter, Donnelly said. Multiple medical examiner offices are working on identifying the victims, with the D.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner leading the efforts to reunite the bodies with loved ones.

“We will continue to work to find all the bodies and collect them and reunite them with their loved ones,” Donnelly said.

Nearly two dozen local, state and federal rescue teams have been deployed for the search and rescue operation. Donnelly said earlier that about 300 responders were working on the ground as police and fire boats were deployed throughout the region. A mutual aid agreement between the city of Washington and the National Capital Region, as well as the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, is also in place.

Earlier, the Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington said it was working directly with the Arlington and Metropolitan Police Department, fire and EMS teams. “VHC Health is prepared to assist and support first responders as these agencies continue their emergency response,” it said, adding that it had not received any patients at this time.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said at the press conference that the Black Hawk helicopter was in a “standard flight pattern” at the time of the collision and was aware there was a passenger plane in the immediate vicinity.

“Last night, the helicopter was in a standard pattern. If you live in the D.C. area, you’ll see helicopters up and down the river, this flight pattern is seen oftentimes when you live in D.C.,” Duffy said.

The newly-minted transportation head added that the American Airlines flight was also in a “standard flight pattern,” telling reporters both aircraft’s paths were “not unusual.”

“This was not unusual with a military aircraft flying over the river and aircraft landing at DCA and again, if you live in the area, you’ll see that frequently with those two aircraft working together,” Duffy said.

Duffy said that “safety is our expectation” and that he knows “you will not rest until we have answers for the families and for the flying public.”

President Donald Trump released a statement on the deadly collision between an American Airlines flight and an Army Blackhawk helicopter over the Potomac River in Washington last night, thanking first responders.

Later writing on social media, he said: “The lights were blazing, 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.”

Audio from the air traffic control tower may provide clues as to what happened just before last night’s disaster. 

“Pat 25, do you have the CRJ in sight,” the DCA Tower had asked the chopper, then directed it to pass behind it. Shortly after, audio then captured reactions of shock from the tower. 

The two collided and the plane broke into two pieces upon impact and both plunged into the Potomac River. 

“It was probably out in the middle of the river. I just saw a fireball and then it was just gone,” audio from DCA ground said. 

The huge rescue operation is now a recovery operation and no survivors are expected, officials have said.

“We are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation. At this point, I don’t believe we are going to find any survivors,” Fire and EMS Chief Fire John Donnelly said in a news conference this morning.

At least 28 bodies have been recovered from the wreckage of last night’s crash, he confirmed. 

Of those, 27 were from the American Eagle civilian jet and one from the U.S. Black Hawk helicopter. The D.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is leading reuniting the bodies with loved ones, and multiple medical examiner offices are working on identifying the victims. 

“We will continue to work to find all the bodies and collect them and reunite them with their loved ones,” Donnelly said.

Search and rescue efforts around wreckage site.Mark Schiefelbein / AP

Part of the wreckage as rescue boats search the waters of the Potomac River.Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP – Getty Images

The U.S. Black Hawk helicopter that collided with American Eagle Flight 5342 was performing a training mission at the time, according to Ron McLendon II, public affairs deputy director for Joint Task Force-National Capital Region/Military District of Washington. 

The helicopter was from Bravo Company, 12th Aviation Battalionm out of Davison Army Airfield in Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation. The probe will be done by the NTSB, the U.S. Army and the Federal Aviation Administration. 

Search and rescue operations are underway after an American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an Army helicopter in midair near D.C.’s Reagan Washington National Airport. The U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter involved was carrying three people.

Al Drago / Getty Images

More than 30 bodies have been recovered from the Potomac River, two sources familiar with the rescue efforts told NBC Washington.

A multi-agency rescue operation continues through the night in challenging conditions.

A man who lives alongside the Potomac River heard the moment American Eagle Flight 5342 collided with a U.S. military helicopter late last night and described the sound as something from a movie or a war zone.

“I was getting ready to go to bed, lying down, when I hear the ‘bang bang,’ a very unusual sound, something you don’t hear on a daily basis,” said 38-year-old Abadi Ismail.

“It’s more like on a war zone, something you hear on the movies action. So that caught my attention,” he added.

Ismail looked out of his apartment window, which has views of the river, and saw smoke from the south of Reagan Airport and began to film the unfolding rescue operation.

“Between ice, between frozen water, strong currents, it’s very challenging mission at the moment,” he said.

Elite American figure skaters were onboard the American Eagle flight that collided midair with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River yesterday, the official American organization for the sport said early today.

Two Russian world champions were also among the passengers on the flight, Russian state media reported.

U.S. Figure Skating said the athletes were returning from a training camp in Wichita, Kansas.

Read the full story here

Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP – Getty Images

Alex Brandon / AP

Emergency workers search the waters of the Potomac River close to the scene of the crash near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport this morning, in a desperate search for survivors.

American-Russian figure skater Anton Spiridonov has confirmed that he was not on the doomed flight, despite reports to the contrary.

“Russian news outlets have included me on a list of presumed people on the flight from Wichita to Washington D.C,” Spiridonov, who won a silver medal for the United States at the 2023 Winter World University Games, posted on Instagram overnight.

“I was NOT on this flight, thank you for everyone’s concern for my safety. My heart goes out to all the families affected by this tragedy,” he added.

World figure skating champions, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were aboard the American Airlines plane, Russian state media outlets have reported.

Russian news agency Tass reported and Ria Novosti both carried the news, each citing an unnamed source.

Shishkova, 52, and Naumov, 55, are 1994 World Championship winners in pairs figure skating and were working as national team coaches for Russia.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Russian nationals were onboard but did not specify the duo. “Bad news from Washington today,” he told reporters in his daily news conference. “We grieve and console with the families and friends who lost those of our fellow citizens who died in this plane crash.”

“Sad news is being confirmed,” he said.

Russian figure skaters Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov in 1995.Chris Cole / Getty Images file

A former NTSB investigator who worked on the another crash in the area in 1982, said the airspace is highly restricted due to the presence of several monuments.

“It’s very tight airspace,” Alan Diehl told NBC’s “Early TODAY” show.

“You really have to be on to your game. The pilots and the controllers that fly in and out of there are well trained and well aware of these restrictions,” he said.

Based on public information, Diehl said the tight airspace is even more complicated to fly in at night due to the presence of large number of lights, including those on the ground and at the airport.

“Very limited room for error,” he added.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was concerned over the crash that involved the Canadian-built CRJ700 aircraft.

“We’re all extremely concerned about the accident at Reagan National Airport,” he said in a post on X. “As we wait for more details, my thoughts are with those on board, their loved ones, and the first responders right now.”

Reporting from WASHINGTON

An American Airlines regional jet collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter near Washington’s Reagan National Airport overnight before plunging into the Potomac River. NBC News’ Gary Grumbach has the latest on search and rescue efforts and the investigation into the crash. 

Emergency crews have recovered more than a dozen bodies from the crash, two sources familiar with the rescue efforts told NBC Washington.

The Kansas Aviation Museum announced a city prayer vigil will be held at noon today in the Wichita City Council chambers.

“All are welcome to join in prayer and support for our community,” it said in a Facebook post.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said she was sending “love and prayers” to those connected to victims of the Potomac plane crash late last night.

She also said in a post on X that the next news conference from the multi-agency unified response team would be at 7.30 a.m. ET today.

Rescuers are facing freezing temperatures as they search the Potomac River for survivors. At the Reagan National Airport, the temperature is 45 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

Andrew Harnik / Getty Images

Temperatures could dip as low as 32 degrees, with winds of 6 mph. There will be little relief today, which despite being sunny will reach a high of 51 degrees with light wind in the afternoon.

Rain is expected late tomorrow night, with gusts as high as 18 mph.

The national U.S. body for figure skating said today that “several members of our skating community” were on the regional jet that crashed after a midair collision with a helicopter near Washington, D.C.

“These athletes, coaches, and family members were returning home from the National Development Camp held in conjunction with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas,” U.S. Figure Skating said in a statement.

“We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts,” it said. “We will continue to monitor the situation and will release more information as it becomes available.”

Reporting from Washington, D.C.

A commercial plane and a military helicopter collided midair near Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday night.

Both of the aircraft — an American Eagle jet and an Army Black Hawk — are in the Potomac River. There were 64 people on the plane and three in the helicopter.

The incident occurred shortly before 9 p.m. ET. The number of casualties is unclear, as a search-and-rescue operation is ongoing.

Read the full story here.

Last night’s plane crash near Reagan National Airport comes almost 16 years after another regional jet crashed near Buffalo, New York, that killed 50 people.

A commuter Colgan Air jet was on the approach to Buffalo-Niagara International Airport on Feb. 12, 2009, when it crashed into a house and killed all 45 passengers and the four crew members on board.

One person on the ground was also killed. The plane experienced a loss of control on an instrument approach while flying at night, according to the NTSB.

In 2013, commercial passenger jet Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crashed on the approach to San Francisco International Airport, killing three people. More than 300 people were on board that flight, which crashed on July 6, 2013.

Search and rescue crews have recovered some of the bodies of people who died in the crash, NBC Washington reported, citing two sources close to the recovery efforts.

Officials have not yet said how many casualties there were.

Emergency units respond after a passenger aircraft collided with a helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River last night.Andrew Harnik / Getty Images

American Eagle Flight 5342, which was inbound from Wichita, Kansas, was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members, American Airlines said. The Black Hawk helicopter had three people aboard, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said.

“Certainly I speak for the people of Washington, 700,000 of us, who are extremely sorry for the families who are experiencing loss tonight,” Bowser said at a news conference early today.

The aircraft collided midair near Reagan Washington National Airport and plunged into the Potomac River, where dark, icy conditions were posing a challenge to search and rescue efforts.

There are pieces of ice in the Potomac River as divers and other first responders are searching following last night’s plane crash near Reagan Airport, Washington’s fire chief said.

Both the regional jet and the military helicopter are in the Potomac after they collided in midair shortly before 9 p.m., officials said.

Emergency responders load diving equipment on a boat to continue working at the scene of airplane wreckage in the Potomac River.Andrew Harnik / Getty Images

“The challenges are access. The water that we’re operating in is about 8 feet deep,” Washington Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said. “There is wind, there is pieces of ice out there. So it’s just dangerous and hard to work in.”

“And because there’s not a lot of lights, you’re out there searching every square inch of space to see if you can find anybody,” he said.

“Divers are doing the same thing in the water. The water is dark, it is murky, and that is a very tough condition for them to dive in,” he said.

There are divers on both aircraft, as well as boats in the water, Donnelly said at a news conference early today.

Reagan National Airport will remain closed for flights until at least 11 a.m., the CEO of the region’s airports authority said.

Reagan National said takeoffs and landings were stopped after the accident around 9 p.m.

Departures and arrivals information screens in Reagan National Airport late last night.Ting Shen / AFP – Getty Images

Aircraft were rerouted to Washington Dulles International Airport, also in the Washington area, Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority CEO Jack Potter.

Potter said that the plans remain fluid but that officials wanted to inform passengers that at Reagan Airport, “we will be closed until at least 11 o’clock.”

Reporting from Reagan Washington National Airport

Sens. Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall of Kansas are at Reagan National as they wait for answers about the crash from authorities.

Moran told NBC News that the regional jet was flying a route he is all too familiar with: Moran said that he lobbied for the direct Wichita-to-D.C. path and that he and his wife have flown it many times.

Moran and Marshall both said they most likely know people who were aboard at the time of the crash.

“There’s no question that people on this flight would be people that I know,” Moran said.

Though casualties are not yet confirmed, Marshall, a physician, said he had not seen ambulances leave the area or rescuers perform CPR. Both senators said the days following the search and rescue operation will be focused on figuring out why the crash happened.

Marshall also expressed grief for families, calling the situation an “unbearable sorrow.”

More than 300 first responders are working at the scene of the plane crash, the chief of the Washington Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department said.

There was an alert for a plane crash at 8:48 p.m., and the first responders on the scene found that an aircraft was in the Potomac River, Chief John Donnelly said a news conference early today.

“The conditions out there are extremely rough,” Donnelly said. He said conditions are cold and also windy.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said a rescue operation is ongoing. There were 64 passengers and crew members on the regional jet, officials said.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on X that the Pentagon and the Army are investigating the crash.

Hegseth wrote that the investigation was “launched immediately.” 

“Absolutely tragic. Search and rescue efforts still ongoing. Prayers for all impacted souls, and their families,” he added. 

Air traffic control towers at the airport captured audio of the immediate aftermath of the crash.

In the recording, someone — presumably a pilot — asks the air traffic controllers, “Tower, did you see that?” A controller responds, “Yep, we saw it.”

The same controller tells aircraft in the area to hold their positions.

The controller details what they saw: “It was probably out in the middle of the river. Um, I just saw a fireball and then it was just gone. I haven’t seen anything since they hit the river. But It was a CR-J and a helicopter that hit, I would say a half-mile of the approach.”

The airplane is a Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet.

Almost immediately, the controllers close the airfield, shutting down all runways and stopping landings and any movements.

Within minutes, the controllers begin redirecting other aircraft in the region.

“I need you to land immediately,” a controller demands. “Can you go to Dulles for a few minutes?” Another aircraft is asked to go to Baltimore.

The controllers also ask other aircraft for help with the search-and-rescue operation.

“Flight deck, do you have any type of search light or anything on board that would help shed some light?” a controller asks.

A little more than 10 minutes after the crash, a controller asks a pilot on the ground whether he wants to return to the gate.

“I don’t know if we’re going to be able to resume operations in the near future,” he says. A minute later, he sends the pilot back to the gate, saying, “They’re going to close the airport.”

Trump called tonight a “terrible night” in a post on TruthSocial and said the situation “should have been prevented.”

“The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport. The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time. It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, 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!!!” he said.

The NTSB said it has launched a go-team to investigate the crash. The cause has not been determined.

In a follow-up post, Trump said: “What a terrible night this has been. God bless you all!”

Data from FlightRadar24 shows the plane was approaching the Washington area from the south before the collision.

Reagan Washington National Airport

Nicole, a passenger on a different plane who preferred not to be identified by her last name, told NBC News that she was on a departing plane sitting on the tarmac when she heard the news about the plane crash.

Her flight’s departure was delayed, and “all of a sudden” she saw firetrucks approaching the area, she said.

“What’s going on?” she said she wondered.

“We saw the helicopters. I was like, ‘They’re looking for something,’” Nicole said. “Eventually, we started to get texts to hear that there was a crash in the river.”

The flight’s captain eventually informed passengers about the accident, Nicole said.

“There was an accident,” she recalled the captain saying. “Please pray for everybody onboard.”

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom tonight expressed “sorrow” for the crash victims and their families as he readied to depart to Washington, D.C.

“First and most importantly, I’d like to express our deep sorrow about these events,” Isom said in a video statement. “This is a difficult day for all of us at American Airlines, and our efforts now are focused entirely on the needs of our passengers, crew members, partners, first responders, along with their families and loved ones.”

Isom said that American is working with local, state and federal authorities on the emergency response, that it has a “go team” headed to Washington and that is cooperating with the NTSB.

He said loved ones of those aboard the flight can call 1-800-679-8215, a help line set up by the airline.

“Our cooperation is without pause, and we want to learn everything we can about today’s events. That work will take time, but anything we can do now, we’re doing, and right now that means focusing on taking care of all passengers and crew involved, as well as their families,” Isom said.

There were two near-collisions of aircraft at Reagan National Airport last year that resulted in FAA investigations.

Two planes narrowly avoided each other on the runway in May, the FAA said at the time. One had been cleared for takeoff, and the other had been cleared to land on a cross-runway.

In April, two planes on the ground nearly collided.

No collisions happened in either incident and there were no injuries.

Reporting from Alexandria, Va.

From the Washington Sailing Marina dock, commercial CityCruise yachts can be seen in the Potomac River.

The vessels appear to be assisting with search and rescue efforts in the river.

The regional plane broke into two pieces, law enforcement and emergency sources told NBC Washington.

The plane is in roughly 7 feet of water, and the helicopter is upside down in the water. Divers are in the water, as well.

Reporting from Reagan National Airport

Hours after the collision over the Potomac River, at least one terminal at Reagan National Airport was calm and quiet.

Few people were seen, some passengers working to rebook flights for the morning.

At the baggage claim carousel, a screen with a bright red banner declared “Emergency alert” and noted that all flights were being halted. Customers were encouraged to check with their flight representatives.

Outside the terminal, about 20 people lined up for cabs.

The plane that was coming in to land at Reagan Airport before it crashed was approaching a shorter runway than the airport’s notoriously busy main runway.

The regional jet was coming in to land at Runway 33, from the south, when it collided with a military helicopter and crashed.

The video that appears to show the midair collision would appear to show the helicopter coming up from behind as the plane was on approach. Questions will be raised about air traffic control and communication and whether the pilots saw each other and had proper awareness.

The helicopter involved in tonight’s crash near Reagan Airport was participating in a training flight, a military official told NBC News.

“We can confirm that the aircraft involved in tonight’s incident was an Army UH-60 helicopter from Bravo Company, 12th Aviation Battalion, out of Davison Army Airfield, Fort Belvoir during a training flight,” the official said, adding that the military was working with local officials and would provide more details once they’re available.

Reagan Washington National Airport is closed until at least 5 a.m., according to the FAA website.

The main runway at Reagan Airport is used for 90% of flights and has been called “the busiest runway in America,” with over 800 daily takeoffs and landings, according to the local airports authority.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority president said in 2023, in advocating against proposed additional flights there, that the airport “operates at full capacity.”

The authority said that the airport has a restricted corridor for takeoffs and landings and that “pilots routinely rate DCA among the nation’s most challenging,” with spacing needed to maintain safety.

The helicopter was on a routine flight, according to a defense official and an Army official.

NBC Washington describes the area where an American Airlines regional jet and a Black Hawk helicopter crashed near Reagan National Airport just outside Washington.

The FBI is assisting local agencies, it said tonight.

“The FBI Washington Field Office’s National Capital Response Squad is responding to an aviation incident at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in support of our law enforcement and public safety partners,” the Washington field office said in a statement.

An eyewitness who was driving home near the airport gave an account of what he saw at the time of the crash.

“You can always see these planes lined up to land. I always look at them when I’m driving home because it’s just a really interesting, kind of an elegant sight,” Ari Schulman told NBC Washington, adding that he was driving along the George Washington Parkway, which runs right by the airport.

Schulman said he saw what looked like a plane roughly 120 to 150 feet in the air preparing to land but then looked back moments later and saw that “it looked very, very wrong.”

“It looked to me like a giant Roman candle, sparks shooting from the head of the plane down to the tail. I saw that for about two seconds,” Schulman said, adding that he initially wondered whether he had hallucinated the crash, but then he began seeing emergency vehicles.

There were 60 passengers and four crew members on the plane that crashed after a midair collision near Reagan Airport, American Airlines said.

“Our concern is for the passengers and crew on board the aircraft. We are in contact with authorities and assisting with emergency response efforts,” the airline said in a statement.

American Eagle Flight 5342 was approaching the Washington, D.C., area airport when it collided with a helicopter around 9 p.m., officials said.

The flight, operated by PSA Airlines, was en route from Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport. The plane is a CRJ-700, American Airlines said.

The Black Hawk helicopter isn’t equipped with an alert system like a commercial airliner would be — but it does have superior visibility that could have helped a crew see an oncoming threat, said Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill.

Windows above, below and to both sides of the crew give Black Hawk pilots near-panoramic visibility that’s far superior to that of a big jet, Duckworth said on MSNBC’s “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell.” 

“So you can actually have pretty good visibility. So it is quite surprising that you can have this happening,” said Duckworth, an Army veteran and former Black Hawk pilot.

She said it’s far too early to draw any conclusions.

“This airspace is very, very, very busy, and we’re praying … that there are more survivors,” she said.

The Army confirmed tonight that the helicopter involved in the collision was a Black Hawk.

“We can confirm that the aircraft involved in tonight’s incident was an Army UH-60 helicopter out of Fort Belvoir, Virginia,” it said in a statement. “We are working with local officials and will provide additional information once it becomes available.”

The president of the International Association of Fire Fighters union said that its prayers are with everyone involved and that firefighter dive teams are doing all they can to find survivors.

President Donald Trump said in a statement tonight that he has been briefed on the “terrible accident which just took place at Reagan National Airport.”

“May God Bless their souls,” he said in the statement White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on X.

Trump thanked first responders and said he would “provide more details as they arise.”

An Army official said preliminary indications are that three people were on board the Black Hawk.

The official could not confirm their statuses.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it is preparing to launch a team to investigate the crash.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said on X that the Department of Emergency Management in his state, which borders Virginia, “has raised its Emergency Operations Center to ‘Enhanced’ status in support.”

Moore said that he is closely monitoring updates and that the “State of Maryland and local authorities are engaged in response.”

Tonight’s midair plane crash and search of the Potomac River comes 43 years after a different plane crashed into a bridge and plunged into the river in the winter.

Air Florida Flight 90 struck the 14th Street Bridge and went into the Potomac River on Jan. 13, 1982. Seventy-four of the 79 passengers and crew members died. Four people in vehicles on the bridge were killed.

That plane crashed after it took off from what was then called Washington National Airport, which is now known as Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

The Boeing 737-200 stalled, crashed into the bridge and then crashed into the Potomac River, which was covered in ice.

The NTSB found that the flight crew’s failure to use engine anti-ice during ground operations was the probable cause and that the flight captain could have rejected the takeoff after having observed irregular engine instrument readings.

The Air Florida crash “was a major catalyst for significant advances in the safety of winter weather operations,” the FAA says on its website about the 1982 crash.

Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., said he was on a flight from Houston that landed at Reagan Airport just minutes before the crash.

“I landed at DCA this evening at 8:42pm, IAH—DCA, minutes before an in-flight collision over the airport. My thoughts are with all involved and their families. Hoping first responders find survivors,” he wrote on X.

EarthCam video appears to show an explosion over the Potomac River.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on X that he is at FAA headquarters and is monitoring the situation.

Duffy, a former U.S. representative, was confirmed by the Senate yesterday and sworn in today.

The passenger plane that was struck over the Potomac is fitted with 65 seats, according to American Airlines.

The Bombardier CRJ700 has 44 seats in its main cabin, 12 in the main cabin extra section and nine in first class, the airline’s website says.

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., said roughly 60 passengers were aboard the plane that departed from Wichita en route to Reagan National.

A source familiar with the matter also told NBC News the American Airlines aircraft had 60 passengers and four crew members aboard.

“My prayer is that God wraps his arms around each and every victim and that he continues to be with their families,” Marshall added in his post. “There are no words that can make telling this story any easier. I ask the world to join me in praying for Kansas this evening, the first responders, rescue crews, and all those involved in this horrific accident.”

The current water temperature is 35 degrees at the closest buoy to the crash site.

At this temperature, a person would be unconscious in 15 to 30 mins.  

Pete Hegseth, the newly confirmed defense secretary, said on X that the Pentagon is “actively monitoring” the situation.

“Poised to assist if needed. Prayers for all involved,” he added.

The helicopter involved in the crash was an Army Black Hawk, according to a defense official and an Army official.

There is no indication of any criminality or terrorism in the crash, a senior FBI official with the Washington field office said.

The FBI is standing by to assist, the official said.

Vice President JD Vance asked for prayers for those aboard the plane that crashed in Virginia this evening.

“Please say a prayer for everyone involved in the mid-air collision near Reagan airport this evening. We’re monitoring the situation, but for now let’s hope for the best,” Vance wrote on X.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has been briefed on the crash and is “actively monitoring” it, a Noem aide told NBC News.

The midair collision over the Potomac River was captured in grainy black-and-white video.

A webcam at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts appeared to record the helicopter and the passenger airplane coming together.

Rachel Maddow reports breaking news of an aircraft in the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport after reports of a midair collision, with emergency first responders’ arrival on the scene complicated by ice and frigid temperatures. NBC News senior correspondent Tom Costello joins coverage.

Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., who represents the area where National Airport is located, said on X: “I am following the response to a reported aviation incident at DCA, and am in touch with airport officials as we try to learn more about what happened and why.

“This is obviously very worrying, but I urge the community to please let first responders do their jobs and save lives,” Beyer continued.

Reporting from Alexandria, Va.

The lights of dozens of emergency vehicles fill the skyline across the Potomac River.

A helicopter has been circling above the Potomac, with its searchlight aimed toward the water.

There is nothing visible in the water from my vantage point.

Onlookers have filled the area.

An American Airlines regional jet collided with a helicopter as it approached a runway at Reagan Airport at around 9 p.m., the FAA said in a statement.

“A PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet collided in midair with a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter while on approach to Runway 33 at Reagan Washington National Airport around 9 p.m. local time,” the agency said.

“PSA was operating Flight 5342 as American Airlines. It departed from Wichita, Kansas,'” it said.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate, the FAA said, with the NTSB taking the lead.

“We’re aware of reports that American Eagle flight 5342, operated by PSA, with service from Wichita, Kansas (ICT) to Washington Reagan National Airport (DCA) has been involved in an incident,” American Airlines said in a statement on X. “We will provide information as it becomes available.”

Several agencies are coordinating a search and rescue operation in the Potomac River after multiple calls about an aircraft crash, the Metropolitan Police Department and D.C. Fire and EMS said in a statement.

Emergency responder lights along the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport, after a crash, on Wednesday.NBC News

The calls came in at 8:53 p.m., the statement said.

“There is no confirmed information on casualties at this time,” the statement said.

President Donald Trump has been briefed on the crash involving a regional jet and a helicopter, the White House press office said tonight.

The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said on FOX News that the administrations’ thoughts and prayers are with all those involved.

“We ask the public in this area to please stand by for guidance from law enforcement and allow them to do their jobs as they attempt to save lives,” Leavitt said.

The airport, located in Arlington, Virginia, halted all takeoffs and landings, saying emergency officials were responding “to an aircraft incident on the airfield.”

Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department said that it was also responding to “an apparent air crash in the Potomac River” and that multiple agencies were responding.

An American Airlines regional jet inbound to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is believed to have collided with a helicopter near the airport, a source familiar with the situation told NBC News.

“Confirmed small aircraft down in Potomac River vicinity Reagan National Airport. Fireboats on scene,” Washington’s Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department said on X shortly after 9 p.m.

Authorities did not identify the aircraft or where it was coming from in public statements on social media, but a U.S. senator from Kansas said it was from his state.

“Learning that a plane inbound from Kansas was involved in a crash at DCA,” Sen. Jerry Moran, using the initials that refer to Reagan National Airport, said on X. “I am in contact with authorities. Please join me in praying for all involved.”

The other senator representing Kansas, Roger Marshall, said on X: “I’ve seen the reports of a collision with a D.C. helicopter and an inbound flight from Wichita, KS.”

“We are in contact with authorities working to get answers. We ask you to join us in prayer for every single passenger and their families,” Marshall wrote.

A source with knowledge of the situation said the jet was inbound from Wichita.

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