Passenger Plane Collides with Black Hawk Helicopter Mid-Air in Washington DC, Rescue Ops Underway

Washington: A passenger plane carrying over 60 people collided with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport outside Washington, DC, late Wednesday, as confirmed by Federal Aviation Administration and defence officials.

The Metropolitan Police Department has reported no confirmed fatalities from the incident yet.

The aircraft involved, American Airlines Flight 5342, was carrying 60 passengers and 4 crew members, and had departed from Wichita, Kansas, according to the airline.

The White House later confirmed the involvement of a military helicopter in the crash.

Trump Briefed on Military-Passenger Plane Collison

Following this incident, US President Donald Trump was briefed, his press secretary said. Furthermore, Trump issued a statement offering condolences. it read, "I have been fully briefed on the terrible accident which just took place at Reagan National Airport. May God Bless their souls."

Vice President JD Vance is currently monitoring mid-air operations and encouraged followers on the social media platform X to “say a prayer for everyone involved.” 

The Federal Aviation Administration said the midair collision occurred around 9 pm EST when a regional jet that had departed from Wichita, Kansas, crashed into a military Blackhawk helicopter while on approach to an airport runway.

In audio from the air traffic control tower around the time of the crash, a controller is heard asking the helicopter, “PAT25 do you have the CRJ in sight,” in reference to the passenger aircraft.

“Tower did you see that?” another pilot is heard calling seconds after the apparent collision.

The tower immediately began diverting other aircraft from Reagan.

In a post on social media, American Airlines said it was aware of reports that one of its flights was involved in the incident and said it would provide more information once available.

Video from an observation camera at the nearby Kennedy Center shows two sets of lights consistent with aircraft appearing to join in a fireball.

The airport said emergency personnel were responding to “an aircraft incident on the airfield.” The incident 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.

(Inputs from AP)