Washington, United States — Divers pulled bodies from the icy waters of Washington's Potomac river Thursday after a US military helicopter collided midair with a passenger plane carrying 64 people, with officials saying there were likely no survivors.

As dawn broke over the crash site just three miles (five kilometers) from the White House, wreckage from both aircraft protruded from the water and emergency vessels and diving teams scoured the area.

"We are now at a point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation," Washington Fire Chief John Donnelly told a news conference at Reagan National Airport.

"We don't believe there are any survivors," he said, adding that 28 bodies had been recovered so far -- including one from the helicopter.

At least 300 first responders were involved in the operation -- conducted in pitch darkness for several hours -- with recovery teams discovering debris a mile downriver.

"These responders found extremely frigid conditions, they found heavy wind, they found ice on the water, and they operated all night," Donnelly said.

There were no details on the cause of the crash, with transport officials saying both aircraft were on standard flight patterns on a clear night with good visibility. 

"Do I think this was preventable? Absolutely," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told the news conference.

Dramatic audio from air traffic controllers showed them repeatedly asking the helicopter if it had the passenger jet "in sight," and then just before the crash telling it to "pass behind" the plane.

'A fireball and it was gone'

"I just saw a fireball and it was gone," one air traffic controller was heard telling another after communication with the helicopter was cut.

Both aircraft crashed into the Potomac river, and the fuselage of the passenger jet was broken into three sections.

US Figure Skating said several athletes, coaches and officials were aboard the flight, while officials in Moscow confirmed married Russian couple Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov -- who won the 1994 world pairs title -- were also on the jet.

The Bombardier plane operated by an American Airlines subsidiary, with 60 passengers and four crew on board, was approaching the airport at around 9:00 pm (0200 GMT) after flying from Wichita, Kansas, when the collision happened.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Black Hawk chopper had "a fairly experienced crew that was doing a required annual night evaluation."

"They did have night vision goggles," he added.

Witness Ari Schulman was driving home when he saw "the plane and it looked fine, normal. It was right about to head over land."

"Three seconds later, and at that point it was banked all the way to the right... I could see the underside of it, it was lit up a very bright yellow," Schulman told CNN.

Trump criticizes traffic control

President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak on the matter at 11:00 am (1600 GMT), but in the meantime posted a critical take on social media.

"The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport. The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time. It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

"Why didn't the helicopter go up or down, or turn. Why didn't the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane. This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!"

The Federal Aviation Administration ordered the grounding of all planes at Reagan National, with operations set to resume at 11:00 am (1600 GMT).

American Airlines' chief executive Robert Isom expressed "deep sorrow" and said the plane pilot had six years' experience.

US Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas called the collision "nothing short of a nightmare."

Crowded airspace

It was unclear how a passenger plane with modern collision-avoidance technology and traffic controllers could collide with a military aircraft over the nation's capital.

The airspace around Washington is often crowded, with planes coming in low over the city to land at Reagan National and helicopters -- military, civilian and carrying senior politicians or officials -- buzzing about both day and night.

The same airport was the scene of a deadly crash in 1982 when a Boeing 737 plummeted after takeoff, hitting a bridge and crashing through the ice into the Potomac. Seventy-eight people died.

(Source: by Ulysse BELLIER, AFP)