Harrowing air traffic control audio has shed more light on the horror American Airlines crash over Washington DC.

The PSA Airlines aircraft, which is owned by American Airlines, was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members when it crashed into a BlackHawk helicopter with three military personnel on board last night just before 9.00pm (January 29).

The accident occurred while Flight 5342 was preparing to land at Ronald Reagan National Airport, which has halted all take-offs and landings as law enforcement agencies across the region flew over the scene in search of survivors.

Both vehicles crashed into the Potomac River, with 18 bodies having been recovered so far.

American Airlines has since issued the following statement: “American Eagle Flight 5342 en route from Wichita, Kansas (ICT), to Washington, D.C. (DCA) was involved in an accident at DCA. The flight was operated by PSA Airlines with a CRJ-700.

“There were 60 passengers and four crew members on board the aircraft.

“Our concern is for the passengers and crew on board the aircraft. We are in contact with authorities and assisting with emergency response efforts.

Part of the wreckage is seen as rescue boats search the waters of the Potomac River after a plane on approach to Reagan National Airport crashed into the river (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

“If you believe you may have loved ones on board Flight 5342, call American Airlines toll-free at 800-679-8215. Those calling from outside the U.S. can visit news.aa.com for additional phone numbers. Family members in Canada, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands can call 800-679-8215 directly.”

In audio obtained by CBS News, a dispatcher can be heard describing the moments after both aircrafts were downed.

“The accident happened in the river,” they say. “Both the helicopter and the plane crashed in the river.”

Meanwhile, eye-witness Jimmy Mazeo told WUSA9 that he was eating his dinner at a nearby park when he saw ‘white flares’ in the sky, not realizing the seriousness of what had just happened.

Rescue boats search the waters of the Potomac River for survivors, and to recover bodies (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

“We didn’t really think much of it until we saw the fire trucks started going out to the tarmac and the police cars and boats. It was insane,” he explained.

“I’m really in awe. Of course it’s terrible what happened tonight, but I think that it’s crazy we got to see what happened. I’m praying for all the people involved in this.”

President Donald Trump has been briefed on the ‘terrible accident’. He said in a statement: “May God Bless their souls.

“Thank you for the incredible work being done by our first responders.”

While adding on his TruthSocial account: “This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!”

By means of a miracle, a helicopter pilot managed to save the lives of three passengers when the aircraft’s engine cut out.

On February 27, a helicopter carrying three passengers and a pilot crashed onto Honopu Beach, Hawaii.

Footage of the ordeal shows the pilot flying over some of the island’s stunning landscape when all of a sudden you hear the engine cut out.

There isn’t any audio of what the passengers and pilot were saying, but the pilot appears to remain calm in the undeniably stressful ordeal.

The helicopter appeared to be heading straight towards the ocean when the pilot manages to swing the aircraft round to the nearby beach so that they could crash land.

The last thing you see in the clip is the helicopter about to hit the beach.

While it could have ended in tragedy, all four of them survived the ordeal.

Making it even more miraculous, there were reports of just one person sustaining injuries.

One of the passengers injured their back and went on to be airlifted to Princeville Airport, where paramedics from American Medical Response awaited.

County of Kaua’i/Facebook

Jack Harter Helicopters are said to be the company who owned the helicopter in question. It prides itself on offering doors-off chopper rides around Hawaii.

“Capture epic moments and embrace the thrill of a doors-off helicopter around Kaua’i on our full hour tour,” its website says of the excursion. “Fly over waterfalls, canyons, cliffs, beaches, and more.”

One seat on the helicopter will get set you back $324.

The firm sent another helicopter to pick up the remaining three people once the injured individual was airlifted away last week.

Jack Harter Helicopters said that the pilot and other two passengers did not report any injuries.

air_rescue_systems/Instagram

The County of Kaua’i posted about the ordeal online, and people were quick to applaud the pilot.

One person wrote “Great Job Pilot!!!”

“Applaud the pilot for safely handling this unfortunate situation,” echoed another.

“Well I’d be happy with that pilot,” a third went on.

Others voiced their relief that no one died in the crash.

“Thank goodness only 1 injured it could’ve been worse,” someone penned. “Hope for a speedy recovery for the injured person.”

Another wrote: “Glad everyone is alive. Nothing in the story about the clean-up a can’t imagine it will be easy.”

An update on the injured passenger’s condition hasn’t been given.

A flight attendant miraculously survived a 33,000ft fall without a parachute and claimed a Guinness World Record in the process after plane exploded mid-air.

Some world records are hard to believe, but when you hear how Vesna Vulović claimed the coveted award, I think you’ll be left a little shocked.

On 26 January 1972, Vesna boarded JAT Yugoslav Airlines Flight 367 in Copenhagen, Denmark heading to Belgrade, Serbia.

Just 23 at the time, the flight attendant wasn’t even meant to be on the plane that ended up plummeting out of the sky as the airline confused Vesna with another employee of the same name.

The JAT Yugoslav Airlines exploded over the village of Srbska Kamenice, which was in the country known as Czechoslovakia at the time.

Many of the passengers on board were reportedly sucked out of the plane by the change in air pressure, leading to instant death.

Vesna miraculously survived (Wikipedia Commons)

Vesna, meanwhile, found herself jammed by the food cart, trapped in the plane’s broken fuselage as it tumbled towards the ground.

The plane also landed in a wooded area with thick snow, which also helped save Vesna’s life. She has no memory of the incident.

Vesna sustained heavy injuries from the mind-blowing fall, including a fractured skull, broken vertebrae and legs, several broken ribs and a fractured pelvis, but she miraculously survived.

The flight attendant was found screaming inside the aircraft’s wreckage by Bruno Honke, a former World War Two medic, who was able to provide life-saving first aid.

Vesna fell into a coma for several days and has amnesia from one hour before the incident until one month after.

Speaking to Green Light, she said: “The first thing I remember is seeing my parents in the hospital. “I was talking to them asking them why they were with me in Slovenia. I thought I was in Slovenia because I was just in Ljubljana before going to Copenhagen.”

A Yugoslav Airlines aircraft (Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)

Vesna was temporarily paralysed from the waist down but was able to walk again after 10 months.

As for the cause of the plane crash, it is believed a bomb in a suitcase exploded in the baggage compartment.

No arrests were ever made in connection to the tragedy, though Croatian terrorist group the Ustashe were suspected to be behind the attack.

Vesna was the only one of 28 passengers and crew members to survive the crash.

Because she fell from over six miles and survived, Vesna became a Guinness World Record holder for surviving the greatest fall without a parachute.

She died in 2016 at the age of 66. When asked if she felt she was lucky to have survived the 33,000 feet fall, she said: “If I were lucky, I would never had this accident, and my mother and father would be alive.

“The accident ruined their lives, too. Maybe I was born in the wrong place. Maybe it was a bad place.”

President Donald Trump has been vowing to ‘make America great again’ for the last decade, and one of his answers for doing that is bringing in more aggressive tariffs.

The 78-year-old spoke at the House GOP retreat at his golf club, the Trump National Doral, in Miami, Florida, where he revealed his plans to make the US ‘more powerful than ever before’, and it has left people shocked.

“America is going to be very rich again, and it’s going to happen very quickly. It’s time for the United States to return to the system that made us richer and more powerful than ever before,” President Trump said, just one week on from his inauguration.

“Do you know the United States, in 1870 to 1913, all tariffs – and that was the richest period in the history of the United States, relatively speaking, in other words, relatively – and they set up the great Tariff Commission of 1887.

“And this commission had one function – what to do with all the money that we took in. It was so enormous that they had no idea, it was a blue ribbon committee was set up 1887.”

There’s a lot of talk being said about tariffs, so let’s clear up what they are – they are taxes imposed on foreign goods, meaning many of these goods will cost more to sell in the US.

While Trump has vowed to end federal income taxes, it doesn’t mean residents will get away Scot-free. What is likely to happen is that prices will go up on foreign-made goods, meaning the consumer will pay more.

(The White House)

Advanced countries fell out of favor with tariffs following World War II, because they often lead to ‘reduced trade, higher prices for consumers, and retaliation from abroad’, the Council on Foreign Relations reports.

A tariff is a tax imposed on foreign-made goods, paid by the importing business to its home country’s government.

Back to Trump’s speech…

The president continued: “And what to do with all of the money that we had. And again, Teddy Roosevelt [26th POTUS] was a beneficiary, because when [William] McKinley [25th POTUS] was killed, he took over this vast sum of money, and he did all of those national parks and all of the other things.

“And I’m not knocking him, but he was given a vast amount of money, and that was all made through tariffs, as we had no income tax. The income tax came in in 1913.

President Trump has vowed to impose more aggressive tariffs on foreign goods ((Melina Mara-Pool/Getty Images)

“As I said in my speech last week, instead of taxing our citizens to enrich foreign nations, we should be tariffing and taxing foreign nations to enrich our citizens. Does that make sense? Right?”

In short, this means Trump has plans to impose tariffs on foreign goods.

After a snippet of his speech was uploaded to Twitter, US citizens were left shocked at the suggested move.

“Wow,” typed one person simply, as another commented: “Not a huge fan of him but reducing or completely canceling the income tax would make a huge difference to us.”

And a third added: “American citizens shouldn’t pay, we should tariff all of other countries who have used our economy as a piggy bank.”