While driving home, Ari Shulman said a "spray of sparks" in the sky caught his attention as he watched in horror the midair collision unfold.

Darkness has now fallen once again over the Potomac River making this already difficult recovery mission more challenging. Boats remain in the water at this hour and we're told about 50 members of the NTSB are out.

A regional jet carrying 64 people collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter. Reagan National Airport grounded all flights.

Recovery crews in Washington, D.C. are facing challenges due to the Potomac River's frigid 35-degree temperatures, which pose risks of cold shock. Training programs emphasize the importance of protective gear and monitoring exposure time to safeguard responders in such extreme conditions.

WASHINGTON — More than a dozen bodies have been pulled from the Potomac River after a plane collided with a military helicopter in midair and crashed into the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) on Wednesday night.

American Eagle Flight 5342 en route from Wichita, Kansas (ICT), to Washington, D.C. (DCA) was involved in an accident at DCA,” the airline said in a statement.

U.S. commercial pilot Rick Redfern was preparing to land at Reagan Washington National Airport about a decade ago when he spotted a bright red Coast Guard helicopter hovering about 50 feet (15 m) above the Potomac River.

National Transportation Safety Board provides updates on plane, helicopter collision in Washington D In the last few hours CBS News confirmed only one air traffic control worker was managing the helicopters when the crash between a military helicopter and passenger plane occurred in Washington D.

An American Airlines flight crashed into a U.S. Army Black Hawk Helicopter over the Potomac River as it approached Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Officials say the conditions of the Potomac River are complicating recovery efforts of the bodies of the 67 presumed dead in a mid-air collision between American Airlines flight 5342 from Wichita and a military Black Hawk helicopter.

We are now at the point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” said John Donnelly, the fire chief in the nation’s capital.