American Airlines Jet collides with helicopter midair near Washington, DC

US President Donald Trump said late on Wednesday he had been briefed on the “terrible accident”.Aljazeera reported.

“May God bless their souls. Thank you for the incredible work being done by our first responders,” he said in a statement. “I am monitoring the situation and will provide more details as they arise.

The PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 jet collided with a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter at around 9pm local time while en route from Wichita, Kansas, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said.

“PSA was operating as Flight 5342 for American Airlines. It departed from Wichita, Kansas,” the FAA said in a statement.

“The FAA and NTSB will investigate. The NTSB will lead the investigation,” the aviation agency added, referring to the National Transportation Safety Board.

Police and fire services said a multi-agency search and rescue operation was under way in the Potomac River.

“Fireboats on scene,” the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department said in a post on X.

Al Jazeera’s Shihab Rattansi, reporting from Washington, DC, said there was an “enormous response” at the scene of the crash, including emergency vehicles and boats.