Plane collides with Army Black Hawk

COLOMBO (News 1st): A massive search operation is underway after a passenger aircraft carrying 64 people collided midair with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport outside of Washington, DC, according to aviation and defense officials. 

About 300 first responders are searching the freezing Potomac River, where the aircraft crashed, the DC fire chief said.

Fatalities have been confirmed and rescuers have not yet pulled any survivors from the water, a law enforcement source said. 

The source says the plane is in pieces in the water and the helicopter is in the water nearby. The airport will be closed until at least 11 a.m. ET Thursday, airport officials said.

The plane, American Airlines Flight 5342 with 60 passengers and four crew members on board, had departed from Wichita, Kansas, according to the airline. Three soldiers were on board the helicopter, which was on a training flight, officials say.

President Donald Trump called the crash “a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented” in a post on Truth Social.