Chilling new video shows the moment the American Airlines passenger plane erupted into a massive fireball after colliding midair with an Army helicopter in Washington, DC, late Wednesday.
The footage, believed to be taken from a terminal inside the Ronald Reagan National Airport, captured the moment of impact between AA Flight 5342 and the Army Black Hawk helicopter at about 9 p.m.
A fiery orange explosion could be seen engulfing the sky just seconds after the two aircraft made contact before plummeting into the frigid Potomac River below.
It comes as audio also emerged from air traffic controllers of the moment the horror was first reported — with one repeatedly saying, “Crash, crash, crash.”
“Both the helicopter and the plane crashed in the river,” another air traffic controller could be heard saying.
“It was probably out in the middle of the river. I just saw a fireball and then it was just gone. I haven’t seen anything since they hit the river.”
At least 28 bodies had already been pulled from the frigid Potomac River early Thursday after the jet carrying 64 people collided with the helicopter — which had three soldiers on board — as it came in to land at Ronald Reagan National Airport.
First responders were still searching for casualties, but officials said they feared everyone had been killed in what is likely to be the worst US aviation disaster in more than two decades.
“We are now at the point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” John Donnelly, the fire chief in the nation’s capital, said Thursday. “We don’t believe there are any survivors.”
The body of the plane was found upside down in three sections in waist-deep water, officials said. The wreckage of the helicopter, which was carrying three soldiers, was also found.
There was no immediate word on the cause of the latest collision, but officials said flight conditions were clear as the jet coming from Wichita, Kansas, was making a routine landing when the helicopter flew into its path.
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