How midair Washington plane-helicopter crash unfolded

WASHINGTON: It was a cold and clear night in Washington as a passenger plane descended towards a runway at the US capital´s airport, seemingly unaware that an army helicopter was flying into its path.

American Airlines flight 5342, with 60 passengers and four crew, was in the final minutes of its journey from Wichita, Kansas -- where some figure skaters onboard had taken part in a competition and training camp.

Meanwhile, a Black Hawk helicopter with three military personnel was flying at the same altitude over the Potomac River during what was described as a routine nighttime training flight.

The first warning of an impending collision came from air traffic controllers.

“Pat 2-5 do you have the CRJ in sight?” a controller asked, using the call sign for the Black Hawk helicopter, asking if it could see the airplane.

Gasps could then be heard moments later, with one voice asking “tower, did you see that?”

“I just saw a fireball and then it was just gone. I haven´t seen anything since they hit the river,” another air traffic controller said after the crash.

A webcam at the nearby Kennedy Centre captured the moment the helicopter flies into the well-lit plane, producing a bright flash followed by a plume of smoke, before the two aircraft fall from the sky.

Witness Ari Schulman was driving home when he saw the plane, saying it “looked normal” before looking back seconds later to see it “banked all the way to the right.”

“I could see the underside of it. It was lit up a very bright yellow, and there was a stream of sparks underneath it,” he told CNN.

The plane and helicopter plunged into the icy waters below, prompting a desperate rescue mission that began with at least 300 first responders.

Working with spotlights in pitch darkness, they began scouring the river for survivors -- a search that soon turned to a recovery operation of 67 bodies, with all those involved presumed dead.

At Reagan National Airport, some were waiting to greet their loved ones from the flight when they learned of the crash.

Hamaad Raza, whose wife was on the plane, told news outlet WUSA that she sent a message to say they were landing in 20 minutes.

“The rest of my texts did not get delivered, that´s when I realised something might be up,” he said.