UPDATE: Audio shows no response from helicopter after air traffic control warnings

Moments before the crash, an air traffic controller can be heard asking the helicopter if it has the American Airlines passenger jet "in sight", according to CNN.

UPDATE: Authorities suggest we should prepare for there to be no survivors. So far 19 bodies have been recovered.

An American Eagle Flight 5342, operated by PSA Airlines using a Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet, collided midair with a U.S. Army Sikorsky H-60 Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport on Wednesday evening. The passenger plane, carrying 60 passengers and four crew members, was on its approach to Runway 33 at approximately 8:53 p.m. local time when the crash occurred. The flight had departed from Wichita, Kansas, before plunging into the Potomac River following the collision.

According to law enforcement, multiple deceased bodies have been recovered from the river by police and rescue teams, though no official casualty count has been released. Fireboats and Maryland State Police divers are on the scene conducting search and rescue operations.

The U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter, carrying three soldiers, was not transporting any VIPs at the time of the collision. Defense officials have confirmed that the helicopter was part of the Army’s fleet

AirlineRatings CEO Sharon Petersen stated, "Airlines are equipped with Traffic Collision Avoidance Systems (TCAS) and in some cases significantly more advanced tools compared to helicopters. In areas where helicopters and airlines operate in close proximity, it is the responsibility of helicopters to avoid the flight paths of airlines, not the other way around. Based on the information available at this time, it appears the incident may have been caused by the helicopter. As such, we will not be lowering the safety rating of American Airlines at this stage."

Those who witnessed the mid-air collision are sharing their account with NBC.

Ari Schulman said he saw a "stream of sparks" that resembled "a giant roman candle".

He told NBC Washington that he was driving on George Washington Parkway, which runs along the airport, and spotted the plane landing. He noted he often sees planes landing at the airport along the drive and watched as it approached.

Everything looked normal, he told the outlet. "It was level, nothing was wrong."

Schulman turned, and by the time he looked back, it "looked very, very wrong".

The plane looked like it had banked hard to the right, maybe 90 degrees, he said. "I could see the underside of the plane, and it's very, very dark out, so you shouldn't be able to see the underside of the plane."

Schulman said it was illuminated bright yellow and there "was a stream of sparks underneath it. It looked to me like a giant roman candle". He said the sparks went from the nose of the plane to the tail.

He looked back at the road but didn't hear any explosion or any boom. He looked for proof of a crash but there wasn't any fire.

"I looked back to see a fireball. I looked back to see a crash, something, and I didn't see anything. It looked completely normal," he told NBC. "My first thought was to wonder if I was hallucinating. If there had just been this horrible plane incident, why didn't I see anything afterward?"

He said as he drove through the area he started seeing the swarm of first responders.

The crash has prompted the closure of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Flights that were supposed to land at Reagan National Airport are being diverted to Dulles International Airport, about 28 miles away, and the Washington DC metro system will stay open late to run extra trains to transport disembarking passengers into Washington, the transport authority's general manager says.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have launched an investigation, with the NTSB taking the lead. Officials confirmed the collision happened within one of the nation's most sensitive and complex air corridors, a zone near high-security landmarks such as the White House, U.S. Capitol, and Pentagon.

Weather conditions at the time of the crash were clear, with visibility reported at 10 mileshowever the conditions in and around the river are close to freezing.

The crash has reignited concerns about safety at Reagan National Airport, which has experienced a string of close calls over the past year involving both commercial and private aircraft. Officials and lawmakers have previously warned that the airport’s heavy traffic and operational constraints could lead to catastrophic incidents.

The FAA and NTSB are expected to release further updates as the investigation unfolds.

**We will continue to update this as more information comes in**