American Airlines Plane Crash: Witnesses saw ‘sparks flying’ in 2 seconds of collision, ‘lights go into the water’

An American Airlines regional jet collided with a Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter mid-air late Wednesday (local news). A video shot with a camera at the nearby Kennedy Center showed one aircraft approaching the other, then colliding against each other, resulting in a big fireball.

The incident was reported near Reagan Washington National Airport around 9 pm local time.

A witness, Ari Schulman, told CNN that he saw nothing but "streams of sparks". Schulman said he saw only "two seconds of it", and "I think I saw the collision".

Schulman was headed home, and the airport was on his left.

"I didn't see any helicopter. It was a very very dark night, so anything that's not illuminated, you can't really see...I didn't see the other aircraft...But I saw sparks flying.

Another witness, Ashlyn Finch that she was at home near the Potomac River when she heard two booms. Finch said in a Facebook message to The Associated Press that her 12-year-old son “came running down saying he saw a plane crash and the lights go into the water.”

When they opened the back door, they were hit with the smell of jet fuel, she said. Within a few minutes, they saw police officers arrive by the water, followed by helicopters and boats in the river.

Washington DC plane crash

An American Airline aircraft carrying 64 people collided with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport outside of Washington, DC, on Wednesday (local time), as it approached the runway.

There were 60 passengers and four crew members on the American Airline plane, while three soldiers were onboard the US military chopper, AFP reported.

While reports claim 18 bodies were recovered, there has been no official confirmation on casualties so far.

US President Donald Trump said he’s been briefed on the "terrible accident" at Ronald Reagan National Airport in a statement late Wednesday. “May God Bless their souls,” he added. Follow AP's live coverage.

Ronald Reagan National Airport says that all takeoffs and landings have been halted after a crash nearby. D.C. Fire and EMS said on X that a small aircraft was down near the airport just outside Washington and that fireboats were on the scene.