Bodies pulled from water after passenger jet and army helicopter collide near Washington DC

The plane was heading for Reagan National at an altitude of about 400 feet, at about 225 kilometres per hour, when it suffered a rapid loss of altitude over the river, according to data from its radio transponder.

In audio from the air traffic control tower around the time of the crash, AP reports, a controller can be heard asking the helicopter, “PAT25 do you have the CRJ in sight,” in reference to the passenger aircraft.

“Tower, did you see that?” another pilot is heard calling, seconds after the apparent collision.

The tower immediately began diverting other aircraft from the airport.

All take-offs and landings at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport have been halted.

The Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ-701 twin-engine jet involved in the collision was manufactured in 2004 and can be configured to carry up to 70 passengers.

The helicopter was an Army UH-60 out of Fort Belvoir in Virginia, Major Montrell Russell at the Office of Chief of Public Affairs said in an army statement.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she would deploy all available resources from the US Coast Guard for search and rescue efforts.

Ronald Reagan Airport is in the heart of the United States capital and near major federal institutions including the White House and Congress. It is also across the river from The Pentagon – the US Department of Defence – in Arlington, Virginia.

More to come.

AP, Reuters, Bloomberg