A passenger jet carrying 64 people collided midair with a military helicopter Wednesday night during its final approach into Washington D.C.'s Reagan Washington National Airport.
PSA Airlines flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas, was impacted in the crash, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. PSA is an American Airlines wholly-owned subsidiary and operates regional flights on behalf of American.
American Airlines said in a statement there were 60 passengers and four crew members on board.
The US Army UH-60 Black Hawk involved in the collision was on a training flight, a spokeswoman for Joint Task Force-National Capital Region confirmed in a statement.
"We can confirm that the aircraft involved in tonight's incident was an Army UH-60 helicopter from Bravo Company, 12th Aviation Battalion, out of Davison Army Airfield, Fort Belvoir during a training flight," Heather Chairez, the JTF-NCR's media chief, said in the statement.
Chairez told BI that the number of crew aboard the Black Hawk and their condition were unknown as of Wednesday night.
The PSA aircraft was a Bombardier CRJ700. A live stream taken from the Kennedy Center by EarthCam showed an explosion as the helicopter collided into the plane.
A DC Fire spokesperson could not confirm any fatalities but said a "search and rescue operation is in progress."
The airport was closed to all aircraft after the crash.
In a video posted to the American Airlines website, AA CEO Robert Isom said the airline is "cooperating fully" with the NTSB's investigation of the crash.
"Anything we can do, we are doing, and right now, that means focusing on taking care of all passengers and crew involved, as well as their families," Isom said.
Anthony Brickhouse, a US-based aviation expert, told BI that the crash is tragic, but he is not surprised it happened.
"We've had so many close calls with runway incursions and commercial flights almost colliding, and when something repeats over and over again, we call that a trend," he said. "We've been trending in this direction for two or three years now, and unfortunately, tonight, it happened."
A "runway incursion" means an aircraft is incorrectly situated on a runway. Several planes have nearly collided in recent years in cities like Austin and New York City.
This marks the first complete loss plane crash in the US since 2009 when Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashed over Buffalo, killing 49 onboard and one person on the ground.
It's the third plane crash since December. An Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer plane crashed, likely caused by Russian air defenses. Thirty-eight people died.
A few days later, a Boeing 737 operated by Korean carrier Jeju Airlines crashed during landing in South Korea, killing 179 people. Two people survived. The investigation is still ongoing.
This story is developing, check back for more information.
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