Many dead bodies with four persons alive have been reportedly pulled out from river after a commercial plane with 60 passengers and four crew members onboard flying from Wichita airport in Kansas city to Washington DC had a collision with a military helicopter midair while the jet was descending to land at Reagan National Airport in Arlington Virginia, the collision caused both aircrafts to fall or crash into Potomac river in Virginia state that borders Maryland and Washington DC in the United States of America, USA on Wednesday night.

As at the time of filing in this report on Thursday afternoon, more rescue boats were seen inside the Potomac river with more than 300 rescue team members who continued to search for survivors and the small passengers’ plane had been pulled out of the river. 

Local media reported that at least 18 bodies had been recovered as of 12:30am Thursday and there are three debris fields from the crash, police reportedly told newsmen.

The US Blackhawk military helicopter was said to be in training when it had a collision with Flight 5342 that had 64 people on board. Fatalities have been confirmed, and law enforcement and rescue teams are on-site, according to live footage published by Reuters on its Facebook handle on Thursday afternoon.

An EarthCam captured footage of the collision where the passengers jet and the military helicopter exploded with a ball fire before both fell into the river as seen in the video footage. All takeoffs and landings at Reagan National Airport are currently paused, according to the airport authorities.

64 people aboard the passenger jet, American Airlines says and three soldiers aboard the helicopter, a US official said.

Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas said as reported by Reuters that; “It’s really hard when you lose probably over 60 Kansans simultaneously. And I don’t want to forget the pilots and the flight attendants.”

“When one person dies, it’s a tragedy, but when many, many, many people die, it’s an unbearable sorrow. It’s a heartbreak beyond measure.”

Jack Potter, president of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority : “It’s a very difficult situation out there with the cold. It’s very dark, but there are numerous boats out there. There are dive teams out there.”

John Donnelly – Fire and EMS Chief – Washington DC; “At 8:58, the first units arrived on the scene and found an aircraft in the water, and began rescue operations. This incident has grown. There’s a currently about 300 responders working.”

“It’s a highly complex operation. The conditions out there are extremely rough for the responders. It’s cold. They’re dealing with relatively windy conditions.”

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says he spoke to President Trump, and his department would offer full support to those on the ground.

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser; “They are working diligently in very dark and cold conditions, cold water, to execute this rescue operation.”

“CBS News reported that at least 18 bodies had been recovered so far, citing a police official. Two sources told Reuters multiple bodies had been pulled from the water.

Police said multiple agencies were involved in a search and rescue operation in the Potomac River, which borders the airport.

Dozens of police, ambulance and rescue units, some ferrying boats, staged along the river and raced to positions along the tarmac of Reagan airport. Live TV images showed several boats in the water, flashing blue and red lights.

The airport said late on Wednesday that all takeoffs and landings had been halted as emergency personnel responded to an aircraft incident.

The US Army said in a statement that it could “confirm that the aircraft involved in tonight’s incident was an Army UH-60 helicopter out of Fort Belvoir, Virginia.”

A web camera shot from the Kennedy Center in Washington showed an explosion mid-air across the Potomac about 8:47pm (0147 GMT) with an aircraft in flames falling rapidly”, according to Reuters.

“There is now an active rescue operation underway at the Potomac River in Washington DC after a passenger plane operated by American Airlines collided midair with a Black Hawk helicopter while trying to land.

CBS News’ Kris Van Cleave reports that this is the first commercial airline crash in the United States since a regional flight crashed in Buffalo, New York in 2009.

“This was an unparalleled period of aviation safety that appears to have come to an end tonight,” Van Cleave said.

White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt says President Trump is monitoring rescue operations of the Potomac plane crash between a military Blackhawk helicopter and a regional jet.