ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — A jet with 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an Army helicopter Wednesday while approaching the Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington. The aircraft plummeted into the Potomac River, and multiple people were killed.

The crash occurred in some of the most tightly controlled and monitored airspace in the world, just over 3 miles (5 kilometers) south of the White House and the U.S. Capitol.

Here are some things to know about the collision:

The crash

The midair crash happened around 9 p.m. when a regional jet at the end of a flight from Wichita, Kansas, collided with a military helicopter on a training exercise, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

A few minutes before the jet was to land, air traffic controllers asked American Airlines Flight 5342 if it could land on a shorter runway, and the pilots agreed. Controllers cleared the jet to land and flight tracking sites showed the plane adjust its approach to the new runway.

Less than 30 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller asked a helicopter if it had the arriving plane in sight. The controller made another radio call to the helicopter moments later: “PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ.” There was no reply. Seconds after that, the two aircraft collided.

The plane’s radio transponder stopped transmitting about 2,400 feet short of the runway, roughly over the middle of the Potomac.

Emergency response

Authorities were conducting a massive search-and-rescue operation. Inflatable boats were launched into the river and first responders set up light towers from the shore to illuminate the area. Helicopters from law enforcement agencies across the region also flew over the scene in a methodical search for bodies and survivors.

Passengers and fatalities

There was no official death toll announced at an early Thursday news conference, but a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press there were multiple fatalities. The person was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas hinted that the number killed will be high. “When one person dies it’s a tragedy, but when many, many, many people die it’s an unbearable sorrow,” he said. Russian figure skaters Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were aboard the plane, along with other Russian nationals, according to the Kremlin. Coaches, skaters and others had been in Wichita for the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, which concluded Sunday, and a development camp.

Shishkova and Naumov were married and won a 1994 world championship in pairs figure skating.

Airport

Located along the Potomac River, just southwest of Washington, Reagan National is a popular choice because it’s much closer to the city than the larger Dulles International Airport.

All takeoffs and landings from Reagan Airport were halted. It will reopen at 11 a.m. Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced.

Investigation

Investigators will try to piece together the aircraft’s final moments before their collision, including contact with air traffic controllers as well as a loss of altitude by the passenger jet.

Aircraft involved

The helicopter was a UH-60 Blackhawk based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia, according to the U.S. Army. A crew of three soldiers were on board the helicopter, an Army official said.

The other aircraft was a Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ-701 twin-engine jet and was manufactured in 2004. It can be configured to carry up to 70 passengers.

History of fatal aircraft crashes

Fatal crashes of commercial aircraft in the U.S. have become a rarity. The last was in 2009 near Buffalo, New York. All 45 passengers and the four crew members were killed when the Bombardier DHC-8 propeller plane crashed into a house. One person on the ground also was killed.

The incident Wednesday recalled the crash of an Air Florida flight that plummeted into the Potomac on January 13, 1982, killing 78 people. That crash was attributed to bad weather.

The post What to know about the collision between a passenger jet and Army helicopter near DC appeared first on News Radio KMAN.

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — An American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an Army helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, prompting a large search-and-rescue operation in the nearby Potomac River. There were multiple fatalities, according to a person familiar with the matter, but the precise number of victims was unclear as rescue crews hunted for any survivors.

Three soldiers were onboard the helicopter, an Army official said.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the Wednesday collision, but all takeoffs and landings from the airport were halted as dive teams scoured the site and helicopters from law enforcement agencies across the region flew over the scene in a methodical search for bodies.

Images from the river showed boats around the partly submerged wing and what appeared to be the mangled wreckage of the plane’s fuselage.

“We are going to recover our fellow citizens,” District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a somber news conference at the airport in which she declined to say how many bodies had been recovered.

The person who told The Associated Press that there had been multiple deaths was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas said, “When one person dies it’s a tragedy, but when many, many, many people die it’s an unbearable sorrow.”

President Donald Trump said he had been “fully briefed on this terrible accident” and, referring to the passengers, added, “May God Bless their souls.”

Passengers on the flight included a group of figure skaters, their coaches and family members who were returning from a development camp that followed the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita.

“We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts,” U.S. Figure Skating said in a statement.

“I know that flight. I’ve flown it several times myself,” said Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas. He said he expected that many people in Wichita would know people who were on the flight.

“This is a very personal circumstance,” he said.

The collision occurred on a warm winter evening in Washington, with temperatures registering as high as 60 degrees Fahrenheit, following a stretch days earlier of intense cold and ice. On Wednesday, the Potomac River was 36 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The National Weather Service reported that wind gusts of up to 25 mph were possible in the area throughout the evening.

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom expressed “deep sorrow” for the crash and said the company was focused on the needs of passengers, crew, first responders and families and loved ones of those involved.

Some 300 first responders were on scene. Inflatable rescue boats were launched into the Potomac River from a point along the George Washington Parkway, just north of the airport, and first responders set up light towers from the shore to illuminate the area near the collision site. At least a half-dozen boats were scanning the water using searchlights.

“It’s a highly complex operation,” said D.C. fire chief John Donnelly. “The conditions out there are extremely rough for the responders.”

The U.S. Army described the helicopter as a UH-60 Blackhawk based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. The helicopter was on a training flight. Military aircraft frequently conduct training flights in and around the congested and heavily-restricted airspace around the nation’s capital for familiarization and continuity of government planning.

The crash is serving as a major test for two of the Trump administration’s newest agency leaders. Pete Hegseth, sworn in days ago as defense secretary, posted on social media that an investigation has been “launched immediately” by the Army and the Defense Department. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, just sworn in earlier this week, said at a somber news conference at the airport early Thursday that his agency would provide all possible resources to the investigation.

The last major fatal crash involving a U.S. commercial airline occurred in 2009 near Buffalo, New York. Everyone aboard the Bombardier DHC-8 propeller plane was killed, including 45 passengers, 2 pilots and 2 flight attendants. Another person on the ground also died, bringing the total death toll to 50. An investigation determined that the captain accidentally caused the plane to stall as it approached the airport in Buffalo.

Reagan Airport will reopen at 11 a.m. Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced. The FAA has previously said it would be closed until 5 a.m. Friday.

Located along the Potomac River, just southwest of the city. Reagan National is a popular choice because it’s much closer than the larger Dulles International Airport, which is deeper in Virginia.

Depending on the runway being used, flights into Reagan can offer passengers spectacular views of landmarks like the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the National Mall and the U.S. Capitol. It’s a postcard-worthy welcome for tourists visiting the city.

The collision recalled the crash of an Air Florida flight that plummeted into the Potomac on January 13, 1982, that killed 78 people. That crash was attributed to bad weather.

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Associated Press writers Zeke Miller, Meg Kinnard, Chris Megerian and Michael Biesecker in Washington contributed to this report.

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