Washington DC Plane Crash Live Updates: Two Indian-origin passengers among 67 killed in the mid-air crash

A regional jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided midair with a US Army helicopter while approaching Ronald Reagan National Airport on Wednesday night, triggering a large-scale search-and-rescue operation in the Potomac River. All 67 people on board are reported to be dead, however, the exact reason behind the crash remains unclear.

FAA reports reveal that the DC tower was understaffed before the collision happened.

The Army confirmed that three soldiers were aboard the Black Hawk helicopter at the time of the crash. Authorities have not yet determined the cause of the collision, and all flights at Reagan National were suspended as divers scoured the crash site and law enforcement helicopters searched overhead.

“We are going to recover our fellow citizens,” said Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser during a Thursday morning press conference, where she declined to disclose how many bodies had been recovered.

President Donald Trump said he had been “fully briefed on this terrible accident" and offered prayers for the victims, stating, “May God bless their souls.”

The Federal Aviation Administration reported that the crash occurred just before 9pm EST as American Airlines Flight 5342, a Bombardier CRJ-701 jet arriving from Wichita, Kansas, collided with the Army helicopter, which was on a training mission.

The accident happened in heavily monitored airspace, just three miles from the White House and the Capitol.

Flight data indicated that the jet was descending at about 400 feet and 140 mph when it suddenly lost altitude over the Potomac River. Shortly before impact, air traffic controllers had cleared the aircraft to land on Runway 33.

Less than 30 seconds before the crash, a controller radioed the helicopter to confirm it had visual contact with the incoming jet. Moments later, another transmission instructed the helicopter to “pass behind the CRJ.” Seconds after that call, the two aircraft collided.

The jet’s radio transponder stopped transmitting roughly 2,400 feet short of the runway, over the middle of the river.

Investigators are now working to reconstruct the aircrafts' final moments, including reviewing air traffic communications and flight data, to determine how the tragedy unfolded.