US Plane With 60 Passengers Collides With Army Helicopter, Crashes Into Potomac River: Eyewitnesses Speak

A midair collision occurred Wednesday night near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport when an American Airlines Flight 5342, a PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700, collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter, with 64 people on board. The crash triggered an immediate search and rescue operation in the Potomac River, just outside the airport.

The flight, departing from Wichita, Kansas, was preparing to land at DCA when it collided with the helicopter around 9 p.m. Authorities quickly launched boats into the water to search for survivors, and President Donald Trump was briefed on the "terrible accident" as authorities coordinated the response. At the time of the reports, there were no confirmed details about injuries or fatalities.

Eyewitness Accounts

Speaking to BBC News, two local residents described witnessing alarming moments before and after the incident.

Jimmy Mazeo, a local man, noticed the flight path of the plane deviating from its usual route and saw what he initially thought was a "white flare" in the sky. He said, "We thought they were shooting stars," but he became more concerned when emergency responders arrived shortly after.

Another witness, Ari Schulman, who was driving on George Washington Parkway, saw the plane making its approach towards the airport, a route he's familiar with. Initially, everything seemed normal, but as he glanced away and then back again, something appeared terribly wrong.

Schulman described seeing the plane bank sharply to the right, almost 90 degrees, revealing the underside of the plane. "It was illuminated bright yellow with a stream of sparks running from the nose to the tail, like a giant roman candle," he said. Despite the ominous sparks, he heard no explosion and did not see a fireball or crash upon looking back.

"It looked completely normal. I thought I was hallucinating. Why didn't I see anything afterward if something so terrible had just happened?" he questioned. As he continued driving, he soon saw the swarm of emergency responders heading toward the scene.