Washington DC plane crash: American Airlines flight smashes into Black Hawk helicopter with dozens feared dead - what we know so far

The plane was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members, and three US Army soldiers were on board the military helicopter. About 300 emergency responders are in "rescue mode", with police divers and boats searching the water for survivors in windy, dark conditions.

A number of bodies are reported to have been recovered, but there is no official update on casualties. According to a report in the US, at least 18 bodies have been recovered by emergency services. Citing a police official, CBS News added no survivors have yet been found.

The collision happened on approach to Runway 33 at Reagan Washington National Airport around 9pm local time, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement to CBS News. Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority president Jack Potter says 19 aircraft in the air were diverted away from Reagan to Dulles International Airport nearby. He says the response teams are in a rescue mode, and they will stay in a rescue mode.

Potter says the teams will continue to work through the night, and Reagan Airport will be closed until at least 11:00 EST (1700GMT) on Thursday (30 January). "We have really a serious and sad situation," says Kansas Senator Jerry Moran, who sits on the Senate subcommittee for aviation safety.

The US Congress will be investigating what happened, he says. He added: "We're praying that our responders are safe, and folks who are on that flight are recovered. We're going to know people on this flight... This is a very personal circumstance”.

The CEO of American Airlines has expressed his "deep sorrow" about the collision in a video which has been posted to the airline's website. Robert Isom starts by briefing on a "serious accident" as he confirms details of the aircraft, the 60 passengers and the four crew members on board.

Isom says the airline is coordinating with local, state and federal authorities and "cooperating fully" with the National Transportation Safety Board investigation. "Anything we can do, we are doing," Isom adds, noting that American Airlines has sent a team to Washington DC and he too will be traveling there.

The media chief of Joint Task Force-National Capital Region, which is part of the US Army, tells CBS News, the BBC's US partner, that the Black Hawk military helicopter that was involved in the crash was on a training flight. Heather Chairez adds that it belonged to B Company, 12th Aviation Battalion out of Fort Belvoir in Virginia. Fort Belvoir is a massive installation about 15 miles from the airport, near Mount Vernon, George Washington's home.

Donald Trump posted on his social media site Truth Social: "It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didn't the helicopter go up or down, or turn," he added. Why didn't the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane. This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented."