An American Airlines flight with 60 passengers and four crew members aboard collided Wednesday night with a Army Black Hawk helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, prompting a large search-and-rescue operation in the nearby Potomac River.
More than 30 bodies have been recovered, two sources told NBC News, and a frantic search and rescue mission to find crash victims in the icy Potomac river remains underway.
CNBC reports it is the worst air disaster on U.S. soil in more than 15 years.
In a message posted to social media, Potomac Mayor Muriel Bowser said officials are expected to provide an update at 6:30 a.m. CT Thursday.
As more information continues to unfold, here’s what we know right now on what caused the collision, who was on the plane and more.
What caused the collision?
It remains unclear.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the midair collision occurred around 9 p.m. EST when American Eagle flight 5342 that had departed from Wichita, Kansas, collided with a military Blackhawk helicopter while on approach to an airport runway. The helicopter, carrying three people, was on a training flight, an official told the Associated Press.
A former NTSB investigator who worked on another crash in the area in 1982, said the airspace is highly restricted due to the presence of several monuments.
“It’s very tight airspace,” Alan Diehl told NBC's "Early Today".
“You really have to be on to your game. The pilots and the controllers that fly in and out of there are well trained and well aware of these restrictions," he said.
Who was on the plane?
U.S. Figure Skating issued a statement confirming that several members, including athletes, coaches, and family members, were aboard the American Airlines jet.
“U.S. Figure Skating can confirm that several members of our skating community were sadly aboard American Airlines Flight 5342, which collided with a helicopter yesterday evening in Washington, D.C.,” the statement said.
The association added that they were returning home from the National Development Camp held in conjunction with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas.
“We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts."
World figure skating champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were also aboard the American Airlines plane, Russian state media outlets have reported.
Russian news agency TASS reported and RIA Novosti both carried the news, each citing an unnamed source.
Shishkova, 52, and Naumov, 55, are 1994 World Championship winners in pairs figure skating and were working as national team coaches for Russia.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Russian nationals were onboard but did not specify the duo. "Bad news from Washington today," he told reporters in his daily news conference. "We grieve and console with the families and friends who lost those of our fellow citizens who died in this plane crash."
Are there any survivors?
The precise number of victims is unclear.
American Airlines says 60 passengers and 4 crew members were on the plane. Three soldiers were onboard the helicopter, an Army official said. Officials who held a press conference at the airport did not announce any deaths, but they all had a somber tone.
The latest update from NBC News says emergency crews have recovered more than 30 bodies from the water after the air disaster near Reagan National Airport, two sources familiar with search efforts said.
More details are expected to be released at a press conference at 6:30 a.m. CT Thursday.
Search and rescue mission remains underway
The D.C. Medical Examiner is calling the recovery center the largest recovery operation undertaken in D.C. in decades.
All takeoffs and landings from Reagan National Airport are halted until at least 10:00 a.m. CT Thursday.
As of early Thursday, hundreds of rescuers were searching the frigid waters of the Potomac River for any survivors of the crash.
Images showed boats around a partly submerged wing and what appeared to be the mangled wreckage of the plane’s fuselage. Helicopters flew overhead with powerful search lights scanning the murky waters.
Emergency vehicles lit up the banks of the Potomac in a long line of blinking red lights.
As of early Thursday morning, the water temperature was just above freezing.
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