Air traffic control watched in horror on Wednesday night as a passenger jet and a U.S. military helicopter collided near Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington and plunged into the nearby Potomac River.
"The accident happened in the river," a dispatcher said in audio obtained by CBS News. "Both the helicopter and the plane crashed in the river."
Eyewitnesses described the crash creating an explosion visible in the night sky.
“It looked to me like a giant Roman candle, sparks shooting from the head of the plane down to the tail. I saw that for about two seconds,” bystander Ari Schulman told NBC Washington.
Video from a camera at the nearby Kennedy Center appeared to show the aircraft colliding and creating a fireball.
The White House said President Donald Trump had been briefed on the “terrible accident.”
“May God Bless their souls,” Trump wrote in a statement, thanking first responders for their “incredible work.”
“Please say a prayer for everyone involved in the mid-air collision near Reagan airport this evening,” Vice President JD Vance wrote on X. “We're monitoring the situation, but for now let's hope for the best.”
The crash involved two aircraft: American Eagle flight 5342, inbound from Wichita, Kansas, which was carrying 60 passengers and 4 crew, and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter with a crew of three.
No senior Army officials were aboard the helicopter when it crashed.
“Our concern is for the passengers and crew on board the aircraft,” the airline wrote in a statement. “We are in contact with authorities and assisting with emergency response efforts.”
Helicopters and divers searched the Potomac for survivors.
The Coast Guard said it was deploying every available search and rescue asset to assist in the operation.
The river was at near-freezing temperatures the day of the crash, according to the National Weather Service.
There are fatalities from the crash, a law enforcement source told CNN, but the identities of the victims have not been made public, and rescuers have not reported finding any survivors yet.
There are no immediate indications of criminality or terrorism in the crash, according to the FBI.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash.
The Army helicopter involved in the crash was conducting a routine training exercise, according to a spokesperson from the military’s Joint Task Force-National Capital Region.
