Washington, D.C: A commercial plane and a military helicopter collided midair near Reagan Washington National Airport

A commercial plane collided with a military helicopter during a landing approach in Washington, D.C., and then crashed into a river.

CNN reported on this.

The plane crash occurred at about 9:00 p.m. local time on January 29, according to the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

A Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet of American Airlines, approaching the runway of Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC, collided with a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter in midair, and both crashed into the Potomac River.

The plane was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members.

The military helicopter, which took off from Fort Belvoir, an army base in Virginia, for a training flight, was carrying three American soldiers.

Journalist Nick Sortor notes that before the collision, the helicopter was flying with the transponder turned off, which aircraft use to transmit their identification data, including coordinates and altitude.

The commercial plane was on a scheduled flight from Wichita, Kansas, to the capital of the United States.

A large-scale search and rescue operation involving divers is currently underway at the scene.

Reagan Airport is temporarily closed until at least 11 a.m. due to the emergency.

There are no official reports of deaths as a result of the plane crash. However, according to CBS News, at least 18 bodies have been found in the river, and no survivors have been found so far.

American TV channels report that the Potomac River’s water temperature is now only slightly above zero degrees Celsius. At this temperature, a person quickly loses consciousness from hypothermia.