Video shows American Airlines plane and army helicopter explode mid-air
Footage has emerged of the moment an American Airlines plane and helicopter collided mid-air while landing at the Reagan National Airport in Washington D.C.
The small aircraft, which is believed to have been carrying 60 passengers and four crew members, collided with the army helicopter, which was carrying three soldiers, late on Wednesday evening.
In the video, posted on X, a webcam at the John F. Kennedy Centre for Performing Arts caught the moment the crash happened at around 9pm local time in Washington (02:00 GMT) on Wednesday.
The centre is located around three miles north of the airport.
In the footage, two bright lights are seen in the darkened sky, with one of the lights, thought to be another plane, soaring upwards.
The second flashing light is seen slowing moving across the sky in a horizontal movement, before a smaller light is seen flashing and flying closer towards it.
Suddenly, seconds later, the aircraft crash and burst into a fireball. Large puffs of smoke and debris falling from the jets are seen moments later.
American Airlines said the passenger plane was a Bombardier CRJ700 and had left Wichita, Kansas.
It is not clear where the army helicopter had arrived from.
American Airlines flight 5342 was inbound to Reagan National at an altitude of about 400 feet and a speed of about 140 miles per hour when it suffered a rapid loss of altitude over the Potomac River, according to data from its radio transponder.
The Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ-701 twin-engine jet was manufactured in 2004 and can be configured to carry up to 70 passengers.
A large rescue operation is underway, with emergency services scouring the Potomac River looking for passengers.
A number of bodies have reportedly been recovered. No update has been given yet on a number of casualties.
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