An American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided last night with an army helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington DC.

The crash prompted a large search-and-rescue operation in the nearby Potomac River, with around 300 emergency service workers rushing to the scene.

There were multiple fatalities, according to a person familiar with the matter, but the precise number of victims was unclear as rescue crews hunted for any survivors.

So far, 28 bodies have been recovered from the river that both the chopper and plane crashed into following the collision.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 and the army chopper, but all take-offs and landings from the airport were halted as dive teams scoured the site and helicopters from law enforcement agencies across the region flew over the scene in a methodical search for bodies.

Images from the river showed boats around the partly submerged wing and what appeared to be the mangled wreckage of the plane’s fuselage.

Parts of the American Airlines plane are now visible in the Potomac River (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

What was first seen as a rescue mission is now seen as a recovery mission in light of it being presumed that there are no survivors.

“We are now at a point where we’re switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” DC Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said during a sombre news conference on Thursday (January 30).

“At this point, we don’t believe there are any survivors from this accident.”

Elsewhere, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said the wreckage of the American Airlines plane is in three parts.

Around 300 emergency personnel rushed to the crash site last night (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

He said, as per CNN: “The fuselage of the American Airlines plane was inverted. It’s been located in three different sections. It’s in about waist-deep water, so that recovery is going to go on today.”

“As that recovery takes place of the fuselage of the aircraft, NTSB is going to start to analyze that aircraft, partner with the FAA with all the information we have to get the best results possible for the American people,” Duffy added.

Duffy also said that both aircrafts were on ‘standard flightpaths’ before the collision and that it’s ‘not unusual with a military aircraft flying the river and aircraft landing at DCA’.

Anyone who thinks they may know someone that was onboard Flight 5342 have been urged to call American Airlines toll-free at 800-679-8215.

If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact GrieveWell on (734) 975-0238, or email info@grievewell.com.

A married couple who were world champion figure skaters have been confirmed as passengers on board the American Airlines flight that fatally collided with a helicopter last night.

The American Airlines Flight 5342 had departed Wichita, Kansas, and was expecting to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport when it collided mid-air with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter at around 9pm on Wednesday (January 29).

The airplane was reportedly carrying 60 travellers and four crew members, while three were onboard the helicopter, when the aircrafts collided some 300 feet above the Potomac River.

The aircrafts fell into the Potomac River (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

The water is still being extensively searched by emergency services who have confirmed today it expects to find no survivors in what is shaping up to be the deadliest US air disaster in more than 20 years.

Now, married world champion figure skaters and coaches of the sport, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, have been confirmed as passengers on the plane, according to local news reports in Russia.

The pair had won the world championships in figure skating together three decades ago in 1994 and had reportedly been living in the US since at least 1998, reports The Mirror.

Maxim and his parents (@maxim.naumov_/Instagram)

Russia’s TASS and RIA news agencies also report it is feared their son, Maxim, was also on board the plane along with more than dozen other Russian figure skaters.

Maxim and other skaters had competed in the US figure skating championships in Wichita just days ago.

Inna Volyanskaya, who had competed for the Soviet Union and coached the Washington figure skating club, is also believed to have been on board.

Russian pairs figure skaters Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova at the World Figure Skating Championships in Edmonton, 1996 (Jeff HAYNES / AFP) (Photo by JEFF HAYNES/AFP via Getty Images)

Another skater, Spencer Lane, also uploaded a photograph of the plane’s wing before its takeoff in Wichita with the caption: “ICT TO DCA,” referencing the codes for Wichita and Reagan airports, The New York Post reports.

The US Figure Skating has since issued a statement via the Olympics website, confirming skaters were on board the flight.

The statement reads: “Several members of our skating community were sadly aboard American Airlines Flight 5342, which collided with a helicopter yesterday evening in Washington, D.C. These athletes, coaches, and family members were returning home from the National Development Camp held in conjunction with the US Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas.”

The family posted this snap of Maxim at the event just two days ago (Instagram/@team.genia.vadim)

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

Another statement by The International Skating Union (ISU) released on Twitter reads in part: “We are heartbroken to learn that Figure Skaters, along with their families, friends, and coaches, are understood to be among those on board.

“Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this tragedy. Figure skating is more than a sport—it’s a close-knit family—and we stand together. We remain in close contact with U.S. Figure Skating and offer our full support during this incredibly difficult time.”

Spencer Lane uploaded this image of the jet on the runaway in Wichita (Instagram/@spencerskates26)

CBS News reports the plane has split into multiple pieces and is currently eight feet deep in the river.

District of Columbia fire chief, John Donnelly, also said in a sombre press conference today (Thursday, January 30) that 28 bodies have been found to date and have switched their rescue mission to a recovery operation.

If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact GrieveWell on (734) 975-0238, or email info@grievewell.com.

American Airlines has grounded all of its US flights on one of the busiest days of the year.

The largest airline in the country has been forced to halt all of its flights across the nation today (December 24) because of a technical issue.

American Airlines said in a statement shared to social media: “An estimated timeframe has not been provided, but they’re trying to fix it in the shortest possible time.”

Elsewhere, the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) said, as per Sky News: “American Airlines is reporting a technical issue and has requested a nationwide ground stop.

“Please contact American Airlines for more information.”

Shortly after the news of the flights being grounded, it was confirmed that the nationwide groundstop was lifted as the system that crashed resumed its usual services, BBC News reported.

The grounding of its flights marks a second technical issue American Airlines has had in recent months. Back in July, the airline – along with others – was forced to ground its flights because of an IT crash.

It’s thought the debacle was down to a huge Microsoft Azure cloud outage on the day in question.

American Airlines briefly had to ground all of its US flights on Christmas Eve (DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images)

Microsoft said at the time: “We are aware of this issue and have engaged multiple teams.

“We’ve determined the underlying cause. A backend cluster management workflow deployed a configuration change causing backend access to be blocked between a subset of Azure Storage clusters and compute resources in the Central US region.”

The issue also affected parts of the UK and Australia.

American Airlines might finally have a solution to an annoying pest at airports unflatteringly referred to as ‘gate lice’.

Now, you don’t need to go worrying that you need to protect your luscious hair while travelling through the airport.

Gate lice aren’t *actual* lice, but rather a slang term for people who have quite a frustrating habit right before boarding planes.

It is when passengers gather right in front of the boarding gates and attempt to get on the plane, despite their boarding group not yet being called, in hopes of beating the queue and getting on before they are supposed to.

Gate lice are probably shaking in fear right now (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

For frequent flyers, people who do this have become quite a nuisance, as it can make boarding more confusing and just busier in general. Not exactly traveling in style if you have to make your way through a whole hoard of people just in the way.

Well, worry not, because American Airlines seems to have come to the rescue, as they are in the process of implementing a new system so passengers can’t board early.

In a statement to the Washington Post, a spokesperson for the airline said: “We are in the early phase of testing new technology used during the boarding process.

“The new technology is designed to ensure customers receive the benefits of priority boarding with ease and helps improve the boarding experience by providing greater visibility into boarding progress for our team.”

It sounds straightforward enough; if someone tries to board with the wrong group, the software gives an audible signal and shows the gate agent a message with the correct group they should be in.

The airline has reportedly tested the new technology at the Albuquerque and Tucson airport and is happy with the results.

The airline isn’t the only one satisfied with the system, as a recent post on Reddit saw a user explain they had seen it in real-time.

“Was flying out of ABQ yesterday and saw the test boarding system for the first time,” user Rich_Ad6066 said.

Pointlessly busy boarding gates could be a thing of the past (Getty Stock Images)

“As usual, group 1 was flooded with people, but several people ahead of me when trying to scan their boarding pass got an error beep. The gate agent proceeded to tell them ‘sir/ma’am you are group 5, please step aside’.

“Was awesome to see this enforced and looked like it was system-driven vs gate agent having to make that call.”

Other people also commented their praise for the new system.

“I saw this in action yesterday. It was great. I saw about 5 people get punted out of line for trying to board before their group was called. About time!”

Another said: “Thank the heavens.

“It’s ridiculous to have to care about this stuff but when so many people are boarding out of order or pre-boarding, and you as a group 1 or 2 are already finding limited overhead space something is wrong lol.”

A third commented: “I LOVE THIS SOOOO MUCH. I hope I see it on one of my flights soon.”