A commuter jet and a military helicopter collided near Reagan National Airport on Wednesday night, triggering a massive emergency response, officials said.The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that American Eagle Flight 5342,

The two cities involved in the crash of American Airlines Flight 5342 will be 'forever' linked, according to Wichita, Kan. Mayor Lily Wu.

An American Airlines flight from Wichita to Washington, D.C. was involved in a crash near Reagan Airport Wednesday night.

“A PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet collided in midair with a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter while on approach to Runway 33 at Reagan Washington National Airport around 9 p.m. local time,” the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement.

An American Airlines flight going from Wichita to Washington, D.C., went down in the Potomac River after colliding with a military Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday. It comes just one year after Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport started offering nonstop flights to Washington.

The flight appeared to collide with a helicopter just before it was scheduled to land. This is a developing story and will be updated.

Officials say more than 60 people were aboard the plane when it and an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided over the Potomac River late Wednesday night.

“While performing a training mission a United States Army UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter from Bravo Company, 12th Aviation Battalion, Davison Army Airfield, Fort Belvoir, Va., collided in midair with an American Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet Flight 5342 last night at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport," he said.

An American Airlines plane and an Army helicopter collided Wednesday night near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Here is a photo of a standard PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 series regional jet, from the American Airlines website. According to a brochure from Bombardier CRJ Series, the jet can hold up to 78 people. Per a flight manifest, American Eagle Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas had 60 passengers and four crew on board.

Wednesday night’s crash of an American Airlines commuter plane in Washington could be one of the worst disasters for the Fort Worth-based airline in more than two decades.