Helicopter, plane collide: Officials say there are no survivors (live updates)

WASHINGTON — An Army Black Hawk helicopter collided with a regional American Airlines flight that was on approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport near Washington, D.C. on Wednesday night.

The crash was caught on video, you can see the helicopter collide with the plane. Three soldiers were on the helicopter conducting a training flight while 64 passengers and crew members were on American Airlines Flight 5342, operated by PSA Airlines, CNN reported.

The Associated Press reported that hundreds of rescue crews were on the scene after the crash, searching the Potomac River that flows next to the airport looking for victims.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser briefed the media on Thursday morning, along with local and federal officials and the CEO of American Airlines.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that it was a clear night and the plane was on the standard flight pattern as it came into the airport. He said it was not an unusual occurrence that a military aircraft was flying near a passenger aircraft.

First responders have found the fuselage of the American Airlines aircraft. He said it was inverted and in three pieces in waist-deep water. \

Duffy said the helicopter wreckage was also found.

Chief John Donnelly, DC Fire and EMS said the mission has switched from a rescue to a recovery. They have recovered 27 bodies from the American Airlines flight and one from the helicopter. Donnelly said there were no survivors. Officials from area medical examiner offices are working to identify those killed in the crash.

If there are no survivors, the AP said this would be the deadliest air crash in the U.S. in nearly 24 years.

Robert Isom, CEO of American Airlines, shared a phone number – 800-679-8215- where family members who had people on flight 5342 can call and get the latest information and help from the airline.

The airport remains closed, but airport officials hope to have the airport reopen at 11 a.m. Thursday.

Bowser said the National Transportation Safety Board will be the lead investigators and that agency will provide briefings later today.

Officials said that the wind that was blowing in the area had pushed the debris from the initial crash area toward the Wilson Bridge, so the debris field is spread out in the river.…Read more by Natalie Dreier, Cox Media Group National Content Desk