Everything we know so far about the plane and helicopter crash at Reagan National Airport

An urgent search for survivors is ongoing near Washington DC after a passenger jet and an Army helicopter crashed.

The aircraft collided while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport, crashing into the Potomac River.

The plane was carrying 64 people and dozens are feared dead while hundreds of search and rescue workers scour the wide river. Cold weather and lack of light have hampered their efforts. Follow our rolling coverage of the aftermath of the crash here.

Here is a roundup of everything we know so far about the crash.

How many passengers were on board?

The American Airlines flight AA342, operated by PSA, was travelling from Wichita, Kansas, to Washington DC.

It was carrying 60 passengers and four crew.

The US military H60 Black Hawk helicopter had three people on board.

When making its final approach for runway 3 at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, the two aircraft crashed mid-air at an altitude of about 300 feet, according to Flightradar24.

Are there survivors?

At this stage, the authorities have not confirmed any survivors being pulled out of the freezing water.

At least 18 bodies have reportedly been recovered so far, according to CBS News.

Where did the plane and helicopter crash?

The search is focusing on the Potomac River – a 400-mile river that has an average depth of 24 feet.

Ronald Reagan National Airport is at the doorstep of the White House – less than four miles south of the Capitol.

When the aircraft collided and fell into the river at about 8.53pm local time on Wednesday, temperatures were just above freezing.

To make matters worse for any survivors and the rescuers, temperatures are set to drop below freezing by 6am local time.

How did the collision happen?

The cause of the mid-air crash has not been confirmed yet as the federal and local authorities are searching the river.

But an air traffic control recording has now revealed there was no response from the helicopter to warnings from the ATC tower, asking ‘PAT25, do you have the CRJ in sight’ less than 30 seconds before the crash.

An eyewitness said he saw a ‘stream of sparks’ when the aircraft smashednear the airport.

Ari Schulman told CNN he was driving near the George Washington Parkway when he saw what happened.

He said: ‘Initially I saw the plane and it looked fine. Normal. It was right about to head over land, maybe 120 feet above the water. It looked like a fairly small end but normal sized passenger jet.’

However, just seconds later the plane was ‘banked all the way to the right’ and beyond a 90-degree angle,’ he said.

He continued: ‘I could see the underside of it. It was lit up a very bright yellow, and there was a stream of sparks underneath it.’

‘I didn’t see any helicopter. It’s a very, very dark night out tonight. So anything that’s not illuminated, you can’t really see. So I didn’t see the other aircraft, but I saw the plane banking at an angle that a plane shouldn’t bank. And I saw sparks flying.’

American Airlines said earlier it is ‘aware’ of one of its planes being involved in ‘an incident,’ CNN reports.

US President Donald Trump has said it looks like the crash ‘should have been prevented.’

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump questioned why the air control tower didn’t take action.

He wrote: ‘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!!!’

Are other airports affected?

Ronald Reagan National Airport has been shut and is expected to remain closed until at least 11am local time on Thursday.

The busy airport’s schedule has been changed and flights have been diverted to other airports.

At the time of the crash, there were around 19 planes in the air which were all diverted to Dulles International Airport.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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