How disaster over the Potomac unfolded: Minute-by-minute reconstruction shows how American Airlines jet carrying 64 hit Black Hawk helicopter in mid-air before plunging into river, leaving no survivors

America suffered a fresh tragedy when a packed passenger jet collided with a US Army helicopter and plunged into Washington DC's Potomac River. The collision took place as the American Airlines flight carrying 64 people made its final approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport shortly before 9pm ET. More than 30 bodies have been recovered for the freezing river early Thursday, with authorities saying there are no survivors although search efforts are still ongoing. A temporary morgue has been set up in the capital to house the bodies. A Black Hawk helicopter flying a training sortie cut through the airspace from the opposite direction under cover of darkness, with both aircraft seemingly unaware of the other's presence. They slammed into one another just 400ft above ground, erupting in a violent explosion before plunging into the freezing Potomac River below. More than 300 first responders and rescue workers were deployed to the Potomac on inflatable boats while others erected searchlights to illuminate the murky waters in a desperate hunt for survivors. But no one is thought to have survived the brutal mid-air collision that ended with the wreckage of both aircraft sinking to the bottom of the gushing river. It is the first fatal crash involving a US commercial airline since 2009, when 50 people died in Buffalo, New York, following a crash of a Bombardier DHC-C propeller aircraft. President Donald Trump said he had been 'fully briefed on this terrible accident' and, referring to the passengers, added, 'May God Bless their souls', while American Airlines CEO Robert Isom expressed 'deep sorrow' for the crash. Now, as rescue efforts continue and investigations into the tragic incident begin, here's how the catastrophe unfolded. American Airlines flight 5342, a CRJ700 Bombardier, took off from Wichita, Kansas and was carrying 60 passengers and four crew. The plane, designed to carry up to 70 people, was operating well within its capacity on a routine domestic flight, observers said. 'I know that flight. I've flown it several times myself,' said Kansas Senator Jerry Moran said in the wake of the crash. A few minutes before flight 5342's landing, air traffic controllers asked the arriving commercial jet if it could land on the shorter Runway 33 at Reagan National and the pilots immediately confirmed they were able to do so. Controllers then cleared the plane to land on Runway 33 and flight tracking sites showed the plane duly adjusted its approach to the new runway. At the same time, a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk US Army helicopter that had departed from Fort Belvoir in Virginia entered the airspace around Reagan National Airport. This is some of the most tightly controlled and monitored airspace in the world, just over three miles south of the White House and the Capitol. Source