American Airlines plane crash: Dozens feared dead after collision with Black Hawk helicopter in Washington DC

An American Airlines passenger jet with 64 people on board has crashed midair into a military helicopter while attempting to land at Reagan National Airport in Washington.

Emergency services in the city are searching the nearby Potomac River after the jet plummeted into the water just before 9pm on Wednesday night.

Officials have not said how many people died in the accident but have suggested that there may be no survivors. It is the first major commercial air crash in the US in 16 years.

Dive teams have been scouring three debris fields and have recovered one of the jet’s data recorders, also known as the black boxes, CBS News reports.

Emergency workers are facing tough conditions as they search the icy river for possible survivors, with the bodies of 19 people reported to have been recovered so far – a number which is expected to rise.

Among the dead are several members of the US figure skating community, including athletes, coaches and their family members, the sport’s governing body has said.

They had been returning home from the National Development Camp, an advanced training camp for promising young athletes which is held in conjunction with the US Figure Skating Championships, US Figure Skating said..

‘We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts. We will continue to monitor the situation and will release more information as it becomes available,’ it added in a statement.

As many as 15 people on the flight may have been involved in figure skating, according to reports.

Russian figure skaters Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, were also on board the plane, Russian state-run TASS news agency reported, citing a source.

Married couple Shishkova, 53, and Naumov, 56, won the world championship in pairs figure skating in 1994.

Their son Maxim Naumov, 23, a prominent American skater recently placed fourth at the US championships in Kansas. He is not believed to have been on the plane.

If their deaths are confirmed, the couple would be the first named victims in the tragedy, which is feared to have claimed dozens of lives.