Horrifying footage captured the moment American Airlines Flight 5342 collided with an Army Blackhawk helicopter exploding in a fiery impact as it approached Ronald Reagan National Airport Wednesday night.
A bright landing light was seen in the distance as a smaller light flew towards the airport before the two aircraft collided.
As the plane made its approach to runway 33, an orange fireball lit up the horizon when the military chopper collided with the regional jet.
Light from the explosion ripped through the dark night sky before pieces of burning debris from the aircrafts fell into the Potomac River below.
The midair crash was caught on video at around 9 p.m. from an EarthCam perched atop the Kennedy Center in Washington DC pointing south toward the airport beyond the Lincoln Memorial.
Flight 5342, a PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet operating for the airlines, was on final approach after its two-and-a-half-hour flight from Witchita, Kansas.
There were 60 passengers aboard the flight, American Airlines confirmed to The Post.
First responders found the plane split in two, lying in approximately 7 feet of water, according to NBC Washington reporter Mark Segraves
The helicopter, a UH-60 Blackhawk had flown out of Fort Belvoir, Va. only 15 miles southwest of Reagan National Airport, the US Army confirmed to CNN.
Three soldiers were aboard the chopper at the time of the crash.
The military aircraft was upside down in the water, Seagraves added.
Officials have not disclosed the number of casualties.
Rescuers at the Potomac River have begun a mission to get to the crash site in the river with the water temperature around 35 degrees.
Reagan National Airport is the closest airport to the National Mall – only four miles south in Arlington, Va. – and is the busiest in the DC metropolitan area.
Because of its proximities to the nation’s capital and the prohibited airspace in the area, aircraft landing from the north have to follow the river down before turning into the airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Flight 5342 was scheduled to land on runway 33, which faces southeast to northwest.
