Arlington. A passenger jet with 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an Army helicopter Wednesday while attempting to land at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C. The crash prompted a large search-and-rescue operation in the nearby Potomac River, with reports of multiple fatalities. However, the exact number of victims remains unclear as rescue teams continue to search for survivors.

Three soldiers were aboard the Army helicopter, an official confirmed. The cause of the collision is under investigation, and all takeoffs and landings at the airport were temporarily suspended as dive teams scoured the area. Law enforcement helicopters also flew over the scene, conducting a methodical search for bodies.

"We are going to recover our fellow citizens," District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a somber news conference on Thursday morning, though she declined to provide the number of bodies recovered.

Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas expressed the gravity of the tragedy: "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 offered his condolences, stating, "May God bless their souls."

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed the crash occurred before 9 p.m. EST, when a regional jet departing from Wichita, Kansas, collided with a military helicopter on a training flight while approaching the runway. The collision took place in a heavily monitored and controlled airspace, just over three miles south of the White House and the US Capitol.

Investigation efforts will focus on piecing together the final moments of the aircrafts' flight, including communications with air traffic controllers and a rapid loss of altitude by the passenger jet. According to data from its radio transponder, American Airlines Flight 5342 was descending at around 400 feet, traveling at about 140 miles per hour, just before the crash.

The Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ-701 jet, built in 2004, was configured to carry up to 70 passengers. Air traffic controllers had cleared the jet to land on Runway 33 after confirming that the aircraft could safely approach the shorter runway. Just seconds before the collision, an air traffic controller instructed the helicopter to pass behind the jet.

The plane's radio transponder stopped transmitting about 2,400 feet short of the runway, roughly over the Potomac River. Video footage from the nearby Kennedy Center captured a fireball as the two aircraft appeared to collide.

Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas, who had flown the route several times, expressed the personal impact of the tragedy, saying, "This is a very personal circumstance. Many people in Wichita are likely to know someone on that flight."

The collision occurred on a warm winter evening in Washington, with temperatures reaching 60 degrees Fahrenheit, following a stretch of cold weather. The Potomac River's water temperature was 36 degrees Fahrenheit. Winds gusted up to 25 mph in the area.

Around 300 first responders were on the scene, with rescue boats launched from the George Washington Parkway. Teams were using searchlights to scan the river. "It's a highly complex operation," said D.C. Fire Chief John Donnelly, noting that the conditions were challenging for responders.

The US Army identified the helicopter involved as a UH-60 Blackhawk based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. Military aircraft often conduct training flights in the airspace around Washington, D.C., for familiarization and continuity of government operations.

This crash marks a significant test for two of the Trump administration's newest agency leaders. Pete Hegseth, who was recently sworn in as defense secretary, confirmed that an investigation had been launched by both the Army and the Department of Defense. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, also newly appointed, pledged full support for the investigation.

Reagan National Airport reopened at 11 a.m. on Thursday, according to the FAA. The airport had initially planned to remain closed until Friday morning.

Reagan National is a popular airport due to its proximity to downtown Washington, D.C., offering passengers scenic views of the city's landmarks, including the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and the US Capitol.

This crash evokes memories of the Air Florida disaster, where a flight plunged into the Potomac River in January 1982, killing 78 people. The last fatal crash involving a US commercial airline occurred in 2009 near Buffalo, New York, when a Bombardier DHC-8 plane crashed, killing all 50 people on board.

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