According to aviation and defense officials, a huge search operation is underway after a passenger aircraft carrying sixty-four (64) people collided midair with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter with three soldiers on board near Reagan National Airport outside of Washington, DC.
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| DC Mayor Muriel Bowser at Reagan National Airport early Thursday morning. Photo: Ting Shen/AFP/Getty Images |
DC fire chief said, almost 300 first responders are searching the freezing Potomac River, where the aircraft crashed.
Rescuers are yet to pull any survivors from the water as fatalities have been confirmed, a law enforcement source revealed.
The source further revealed, American Airlines Flight 5342 is in pieces in the water and the helicopter is in the water close by.
A statement from US Figure Skating and a report from Russian state media says, several members of the figure skating community were on the passenger jet.
