A passenger plane collided in midair with a military helicopter approaching Reagan Washington National Airport, triggering a desperate search-and-rescue operation in the nearby Potomac River Wednesday night, officials said.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the midair collision occurred around 9 p.m. when a regional jet that had flown from Wichita, Kansas, crashed into a military Blackhawk helicopter while on approach to an airport runway.
There was no immediate word on casualties, but all takeoffs and landings from the airport near Washington were halted as helicopters from agencies across the region flew over the scene in search of survivors. Inflatable rescue boats were being launched into the Potomac River, the Associated Press reported.
Multiple 911 callers reported the crash near the river, according to a joint statement from the Metropolitan Police Department and the District of Columbia Fire and EMS, the outlet reported.
Both the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.
“DC Fire and EMS, the Metropolitan Police Department and multiple partner agencies are currently coordinating a search and rescue operation in the Potomac River,” the statement read.
Flights in and out of Reagan National Airport were halted around 9:10 p.m. as reports of the crash peppered across social media.
In a post on X, The District of Columbia Fire and EMS confirmed a small aircraft crashed and fireboats were on the scene aiding in a search for any potential victims.
The incident recalled the crash of an Air Florida flight that plummeted into the Potomac on Jan. 13, 1982 that killed 78 people. That crash was attributed to bad weather.