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.

After the US suffered the deadliest plane crash since 2001 and its first major aviation incident in the last 16 years, President Donald Trump was asked by reporters whether he would be visiting the crash site.

At 8.47pm ET on Wednesday (January 29), a PSA Airlines aircraft, which is owned by American Airlines, crashed into a BlackHawk helicopter that was carrying three US soldiers taking part in a training expedition.

The jet was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members from Wichita, Kansas, to Washington DC, when the mid-air collision took place as Flight 5342 approached Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to land.

The wreckage of both the chopper and the plane landed in the Potomac River, with 300 first responders rushing to provide aid – but sadly there were no survivors.

Now, while answering questions from the press, one reporter asked whether Trump would be paying the site a visit.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters about the collision (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Questionably, the 78-year-old replied: “I have a plan to visit, not the site. What’s the site? The water? You want me to go swimming?”

He then moved on explaining that it’s too early to draw conclusions of what happened, while also taking aim at the Biden administration for encouraging the Federal Aviation Administration to recruit its staff through the diversity, equity, and inclusion program.

He claimed that some of the workers ‘suffer severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative’.

However, Trump did not provide evidence to suggest unqualified people were put in a critical position like flying the chopper, the plane or in air traffic control.

“They have to be talented, naturally talented geniuses,” he added. “You can’t have regular people doing their job.”

Taking to Truth Social in the hours following the incident, he posted: “The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport.

There were 67 fatalities when a BlackHawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines owned flight (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

“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!!! What a terrible night this has been. God bless you all!”

After hours of scouring the river, DC Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly announced that the search and rescue operation was off, during a news conference yesterday (January 30).

“We are now at a point where we’re 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.”

Details are beginning to trickle in as we learn more about the horrific air disaster that saw a commercial plane collide with a helicopter.

Authorities fear that more than 60 people have died after an American Airlines plane crashed into a Black Hawk helicopter over Washington DC on January 29.

The incident 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.

The crash resulted in a large search and rescue effort with authorities searching the Potomac River for bodies, as both aircrafts landed in the body of water after the crash.

28 bodies have been recovered from the river so far, however this number is expected to rise.

Rescue efforts have continued into today since the crash occurred (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

One of the people confirmed to have been on the flight was 26-year-old Spencer Lane, who was a member of the US figure skating team.

Ahead of the collision, and before taking off from Wichita Airport in Kansas, he made a post to social media that has proven to be particularly haunting.

He uploaded an image around 7pm ET on Wednesday of the wing of the doomed aircraft from his seat by the window. He captioned it ICT -> DCA the codes for Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Other elite members of the American figure skating team are also believed to have been onboard the plane. They were also expected to compete at the next winter Olympics.

Spencer Lane’s final post before the American Airlines plane crash(Spencer Lane)

They were returning home to the DC area after attending a National Development Camp for young skaters in Wichita, Kansas.

Today (January 30) authorities gave a grim update on the incident.

During a news conference, DC Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said: “We are now at a point where we’re switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation.

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

Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy has said that the plane is in three parts and that the search will continue today for the sake of the American people.

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’.

Everything we know so far about the American Airlines plane crash

What caused the American Airlines crash?

This is still to be determined, with the black boxes from both the helicopter and plane vital to establishing what was going on in the build up to the fatal collision.

All we know at this stage is that the passenger plane and military helicopter collided as the plane was approaching Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport’s Runaway 33 to land.

What has American Airlines said about the crash?

The CEO of American Airlines, Robert Isom, issued a response to the incident as he explained he was travelling to DC with a specialist team to aid the investigation.

In a statement, the businessman said: “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.

“I know that there are many questions. At this early stage, I’ll not be able to answer all of them, but I do want to share the information I have at this time.”

What has Donald Trump said about the American Airlines crash?

President Trump described the incident as a ‘bad situation’ that ‘should have been prevented’.

“The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport,” he wrote on Truth Social.

“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!!! What a terrible night this has been. God bless you all!”