This article will be updated with the latest information, as it becomes available.
WASHINGTON — Many people are feared dead after an American Airlines passenger plane carrying 64 people collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter over Washington, sending both aircraft plummeting into the freezing Potomac River river below.
American Airlines Flight 5342 was traveling from Wichita, Kansas to the Washington's Reagan National Airport. It collided with the military helicopter as it was approaching the runway shortly before 9 p.m. on Wednesday, authorities said. There were reported to be three people on board the helicopter.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said that all of Washington is mourning "for the families who are experiencing loss tonight."
But neither Bowser nor other top officials — like newly confirmed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy — who spoke early Thursday gave any information about the number of dead.
CBS News, citing anonymous law enforcement officials, said 19 bodies have been recovered so far from the river. NBC News also reported that search-and-rescue teams have recovered a number of bodies.
Some 300 emergency responders were scouring the freezing-cold Potomac River, including dive teams, in dark and windy conditions.
John Donnelly, Washington's fire chief, called the rescue operation "highly complex."
"You search every square centimeter out there to see if you can find anyone," he said. "The river is a big black spot."
Images from the scene show both aircraft in pieces in the river.
In a social media post, President Donald Trump called the collision "a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented."
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