WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – Authorities in Washington, D.C., are continuing their grim recovery operation after an American Airlines regional passenger jet flying from Kansas collided with a military Black Hawk helicopter.

The airport re-opened, but there is still an active recovery mission in the Potomac River where first responders have spent the day searching for victims. They say they don’t expect any survivors.

FOX59/CBS4 learned that at least one passenger was a woman from the Indianapolis area. Friends of the family confirmed this information but asked for privacy at this time.

EarthCam video shows the moment the plane and an Army helicopter collided in midair just before 9 pm Wednesday, near Washington, D.C.’s Reagan National Airport.

President Donald Trump says the nation is grieving with the victims.

“We take solace in the knowledge that their journey ended not in the cold waters of the Potomac. But in the warm embrace of a loving God,” said Trump.

64 people were on board the plane coming from Kansas.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the experienced military crew was on a training flight.

“The military does dangerous things, it does routine things on a regular basis, tragically last night a mistake was made,” said Hegseth.

Authorities spent the day recovering victims from the near-freezing waters of the Potomac River.

“These responders found extremely frigid conditions. They found heavy wind. they found ice on the water, and they operated all night in those conditions,” said DC Fire & EMS Chief John Donnelly.

Newly sworn-in Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy believed the crash was preventable.

“We are going to get to the bottom of this investigation, not in three years, not in four years but as quickly as possible,” said Duffy.

Kansas Senators Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran were on the scene quickly after hearing the plane that crashed had taken off from their state.

“I won’t rest until the people who lost loved ones on that plane know exactly what happened and why,” said Marshall.

Multiple agencies are investigating the incident, including the Pentagon and FBI. The NTSB is taking the lead.



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