Passenger jet carrying 64 collides with helicopter while landing near Washington

A passenger jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided in midair with a military helicopter late Wednesday while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Virginia, near Washington, prompting a large search-and-rescue operation in the nearby Potomac River.

There was no immediate word on casualties, but all takeoffs and landings from the airport were halted as helicopters from agencies across the region flew over the scene in search of survivors.

The U.S. army described the helicopter as a UH-60 Black Hawk based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. A crew of three soldiers were on board the helicopter, an army official said. The helicopter was on a training flight.

WATCH | Passenger planes and military aircraft often cross paths in D.C., pilot says:Former airline pilot John Cox describes what it's like to fly in and out of Reagan National Airport, where a passenger jet collided with a U.S. military helicopter helicopter while landing.

Some 300 first responders were on scene. Inflatable rescue boats were being launched into the river from a point along the George Washington Parkway, just north of the airport, and first responders set up light towers from the shore to illuminate the area near the site of the collision. 

"It's a highly complex operation," said D.C. fire chief John Donnelly. "The conditions out there are extremely rough for the responders."

U.S. President Donald Trump said he had been "fully briefed on this terrible accident" and, referring to the passengers, added, "May God Bless their souls." 

Passengers on the flight included a group of figure skaters, their coaches and family members who were returning from a development camp that followed the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kan.

"We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims' families closely in our hearts," U.S. Figure Skating said in a statement.

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom expressed "deep sorrow" for the crash and said the company was focused on the needs of passengers, crew, first responders and families and loved ones of those involved.

The airline said there were 60 passengers and four crew on board.

Bombardier plane

Investigators will try to piece together the aircrafts' final moments before their collision around 9 p.m. ET, 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 about 120 metres and a speed of about 225 km/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 search and rescue boat operates along the Potomac River near the site of the crash on Wednesday night. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) would investigate.

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said the airline would co-operate fully with the probe. Isom expressed "deep sorrow" for the crash and said the company was focused on the needs of passengers, crew, first responders and families and loved ones of those involved.

WATCH | Searching in sheer darkness:CBC’s Paul Hunter describes the icy conditions on the Potomac River following a collision between a passenger plane and military helicopter.'Tower did you see that?'

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 to do so. Controllers then cleared the plane to land on Runway 33. Flight tracking sites showed the plane adjust its approach to the new runway.

In audio from the air traffic control tower around the time of the crash, a controller is heard asking the helicopter, "PAT25 do you have the CRJ in sight," in reference to the passenger aircraft.

"Tower did you see that?" another pilot is heard calling seconds after the apparent collision.

The tower immediately began diverting other aircraft from the airport.

A helicopter searches for survivors in the Potomac River after the midair collision. (Alex Brandon/The Associated Press)

Video from an observation camera at the nearby Kennedy Center shows two sets of lights consistent with aircraft appearing to join in a fireball.

Ronald Reagan National Airport, located along the Potomac River just southwest of the city, is a popular choice because it's much closer than the larger Dulles International Airport, which is deeper in Virginia. The airport is closed until 11 a.m., the FAA said.

A CBC News reporter on the scene described an "eerily silent airport," with all the flight information boards being reset to an urgent message.

"Due to an emergency situation, all flights are being held on the airfield," the message read.

Boats search the waters of the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan National Airport early Thursday in Arlington, Va. (Alex Brandon/The Associated Press)

Military aircraft frequently conduct training flights in and around the congested and heavily restricted airspace around the nation's capital for familiarization and continuity of government planning. In 2023, nine soldiers were killed when two U.S. army Black Hawk medical evacuation helicopters crashed during a nighttime training exercise near Fort Campbell in Kentucky.

The last major fatal crash involving a U.S. commercial airline occurred in 2009 near Buffalo, N.Y. 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.

Inside Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington on Wednesday night. All of the arrival and departure boards had been replaced with a message telling passengers that flights were being held due to an emergency situation. (Alex Panetta/CBC)

The deadliest American Airlines crash this century took place on Nov. 12, 2001 when an Airbus plane crashed shortly after takeoff in New York City. All 260 people on board the flight en route to Dominican Republic were killed. The NTSB found the co-pilot improperly employed an overly sensitive rudder system to try to steady the plane.

On Jan. 13, 1982, an  Air Florida flight plummeted into the Potomac, killing 78 people. That crash was attributed to bad weather.