A US passenger plane carrying 64 people crashed into Washington's chilly Potomac River on Wednesday after colliding mid-air with a military helicopter near Reagan National Airport, prompting a major emergency response and the grounding of all flights.
The plane had been about to land after flying from Kansas.
American Airlines, whose subsidiary operated the flight, said "there were 60 passengers and four crew members on board the aircraft."
A US Army official said the helicopter was a Black Hawk model carrying three soldiers -- their status currently unknown.
Washington police said "there is no confirmed information on casualties at this time," although a massive search and rescue operation was in progress.
The Washington Post quoted unnamed sources saying police had started to pull multiple bodies from the Potomac.
Witness Ari Schulman described "a stream of sparks" and what looked like a large firework when the nighttime collision erupted overhead as he drove home.
"Initially I saw the plane and it looked fine, normal. It was right about to head over land," he told CNN.
"Three seconds later, and at that point it was banked all the way to the right... I could see the underside of it, it was lit up a very bright yellow, and there was a stream of sparks underneath it," Schulman added. "It looked like a Roman candle."
President Donald Trump said he had been "fully briefed" on the accident and said of any victims, "may God bless their souls."
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered the grounding of all planes at Reagan National, and Washington's police said on X that "multiple agencies" were responding to the crash site in the Potomac.
Kristi Noem, the country's new secretary of homeland security, posted on X that she was "deploying every available US Coast Guard resource for search and rescue efforts in this horrific incident at DCA."
Police said fireboats had joined the operation on the river, where any work was complicated by the fact it was dark and close to freezing. Dozens of fire trucks headed toward the airport and divers could be seen going off boats into the Potomac.
The FAA said a Bombardier regional jet operated by American Airlines subsidiary PSA Airlines "collided in midair" with a Sikorsky UH-60 helicopter as it approached for landing at Reagan at around 9:00 pm (0200 GMT). The plane had left from Wichita, Kansas.
US Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas said the collision was "nothing short of a nightmare."
"I ask the world to join me in praying for Kansas this evening, the first responders, rescue crews, and all those involved in this horrific accident," he wrote on X.
"I have been in contact with local and national authorities asking for answers and will continue to demand more information on how this unfolded."
© Agence France-Presse
