WASHINGTON: As many as 67 passengers were killed after a passenger flight crashed into a helicopter in the United States on Thursday. All people in both air carriers are reportedly killed. 28 dead bodies have been recovered as of now.

The incident took place in Washington DC at 8.47 pm local time (7.17 am today Indian time). An American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas with 60 passengers and 4 crew members heading to Ronald Reagan National Airport crashed into the helicopter.

The US Army’s Black Hawk helicopter which was on a test run accidentally entered the runway causing the horrific accident. There were three soldiers inside the chopper.

The copter and the plane exploded after the crash and the remnants fell into the Potomac River. As the river is in a frozen state, the rescue operations are a bit gruelling. One black box was recovered. The passenger plane was the Bombardier CRJ700.

Most of the passengers were ice skating players returning after participating in an event in Kansas. Former world champions and veteran ice skaters Yevgenia Shishkova and Naumov are among the killed.