Passenger jet and helicopter collide near Washington's Reagan Airport,

DEVELOPING STORY

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says an American Airlines passenger jet has been involved in a mid-air collision with a US Army Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopter near Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA/KDCA) in Washington DC.

This is what is known so far

• American Airlines flight 5342 with 60 passengers and four crew members aboard collided with a US Army helicopter with 3 US Army personnel while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington.
• A large search-and-rescue operation is currently underway in the nearby Potomac River.
• There was no immediate word on casualties or the cause of the collision, but all take-offs and landings from the airport near Washington have been halted.
• The number of casualties is not yet known, but police have pulled multiple bodies from the water, according to officials and people familiar with the situation.
• Maryland State Police divers are on the scene to help search the Potomac River, Gov. Wes Moore said on social media.
• The Army helicopter involved in the crash was a UH-60 Black Hawk on a training flight, military officials said. The helicopter was assigned to Bravo Company of the 12th Aviation Battalion, which operates out of Davidson Army Airfield at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, Joint Task Force-National Capital Region media chief Heather Chairez said in a statement.

The Federal Aviation Administration says the midair crash occurred around 9 pm EST. The regional jet had departed from Wichita, Kansas (ICT/KICT) and collided with a military Black Hawk helicopter while on approach to runway 33 at Washington. It occurred in some of the most tightly controlled and monitored airspace in the world, just 5km south of the White House and the Capitol.
Investigators will try to piece together the aircrafts' final moments before their collision, including contact with air traffic controllers as well as a loss of altitude by the passenger jet.


Aircraft Information:

Airline: American Eagle

Code: AA/AAL

Operator: PSA Airlines

Code: OH/JIA

Aircraft: Mitsubishi CRJ-701ER

Registration: N709PS

Serial Number: 10165

Engines: 2 x GE CF34-8C1

First Flew: September 2004

Age: 20.4 Years

OUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS GO OUT TO THE FAMILIES AND FRIENDS, AND EVERYONE AT AMERICAN EAGLE AND THE U.S. ARMY