A massive search operation is underway after a passenger aircraft carrying 64 people with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport outside of Washington, DC, according to aviation and defense officials. About 300 first responders are searching the freezing Potomac River, where the aircraft crashed, the DC fire chief said. bodies were recovered from the Potomac River as multiple agencies are involved in a search and rescue operation.
Sixty passengers and 4 crew were aboard the passenger jet, that was en route from Wichita in Kansas to Washington, the American Airlines said. The flight was operated by PSA Airlines.
All takeoffs and landings from the airport near Washington have been halted in the wake of the incident, officials added. The incident occurred in some of the most tightly controlled and monitored airspace in the world, just around five kilometres south of the White House and the Capitol.
A US Army official confirmed that one of its helicopters was involved in the crash. Another official added that three soldiers were onboard the helicopter, but their status was unknown.