American Airlines regional jet collides with helicopter near Washington’s Reagan Airport

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American Airlines regional jet collides with helicopter near Washington’s Reagan Airport

By David Shepardson and Brad Brooks

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -An American Airlines regional passenger jet was involved in a mid-air collision on Wednesday night with a U.S. Army ****** Hawk helicopter near Reagan Washington National Airport, officials said.

Senator Ted Cruz of Texas said on social media that “we know there are fatalities,” though he did not say how many.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said a PSA Airlines regional jet collided midair with a ****** Hawk helicopter while on approach to Reagan. A U.S. Army official confirmed that one of its helicopters was involved in the ******.

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PSA was operating Flight 5342 for American Airlines, which had departed from Wichita, Kansas, according to the FAA. According to American Airlines’ website, the jet can carry up to 65 passengers.

Police said multiple agencies were involved in a search and rescue operation in the Potomac River, which borders the airport.

The airport said late on Wednesday that all takeoffs and landings had been halted as emergency personnel responded to an aircraft incident.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it was gathering more information on the incident.

There has not been a fatal U.S. passenger airplane accident since February 2009, but a series of near-miss incidents in recent years have raised serious safety concerns.

American Airlines said on social media that it was “aware of reports that American Eagle flight 5342, operated by PSA, with service from Wichita, Kansas (ICT) to Washington Reagan National Airport (DCA) has been involved in an incident.”

American Airlines said it would provide more information as it became available to the company.

(Reporting by David Shepardson and Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Himani Sarkar, Jamie Freed, Ross Colvin and Gerry Doyle)

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