An American Airlines plane carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter outside Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C. Wednesday evening. Three soldiers were onboard the helicopter and a massive search and rescue operation is now unfolding in the Potomac River.

One of the pilots of the passenger jet involved in a mid-air collision in Washington, D.C. was a native of New York but grew up in Florida, where he learned to fly planes, according to records and statements from those who knew him.

Black boxes found after American Airlines jet collision disaster amid air traffic shortage claims - Divers will on Friday aim to salvage the crashed American Airlines plane and Black Hawk helicopter f

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a statement saying that A PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet collided in midair with a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter while approaching Washington National Airport at about 9 p.

The FAA said the crash happened in some of the most tightly controlled and monitored airspace in the world, just over three miles south of the White House

The president offered no evidence to support his accusations, striking a partisan note just after calling for national unity and grieving.