American Airlines plane ‘split in half’ in Washington DC in collision with Black Hawk helicopter on training flight

An American Airlines regional passenger jet has crashed into a military helicopter while attempting to land at Reagan National Airport in Washington. 

Emergency services in the city are searching the Potomac River near the airport following the incident just before 9 p.m. on Wednesday. 

The airline has confirmed that 60 passengers and four crew members were onboard Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas, to the Capital when the collision happened.

NBC Washington is reporting that rescue crews have pulled at least four people from the water.

According to the outlet, the plane is said to have split in two and is in around seven feet of water, while the helicopter is upside down and unstable.

The Federal Aviation Authority said that the Bombardier CRJ700 jet collided with a Sikorksy H-60 Black Hawk helicopter while approaching Runway 33. 

Defense officials have confirmed that the Black Hawk was an Army chopper carrying three soldiers on a training flight at the time.

In audio from the air traffic control tower around the crash, a controller is heard asking the helicopter, ‘PAT25, do you have the CRJ in sight,’ about the passenger aircraft.

‘Tower, did you see that?’ another pilot is heard calling seconds after the apparent collision. The tower immediately began diverting other aircraft from Reagan.