American Airlines plane collides with Black Hawk helicopter in Washington, search on for survivors

An American Airlines regional jet collided midair with a helicopter while landing at the Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday night. Eighteen bodies have been recovered by search crews and no survivors have been found yet. 

The Federal Aviation Administration said the collision occurred around 9 pm ET when the regional jet, that had departed from Wichita, Kansas, smashed into the military Blackhawk helicopter while it was approaching the airport runway. Sixty passengers and four crew members were on the American Airlines flight 5342, reported CBS News. Three US Army soldiers were onboard the Black Hawk Sikorsky H-60. The flight suffered a rapid loss of altitude over the Potomac River, according to data from its radio transponder.