While driving home, Ari Shulman said a "spray of sparks" in the sky caught his attention as he watched in horror the midair collision unfold.

American Eagle Flight 5342 en route from Wichita, Kansas (ICT), to Washington, D.C. (DCA) was involved in an accident at DCA,” the airline said in a statement.

At least one aircraft crashed Wednesday evening over the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan International Airport outside Washington, D.C., officials said, grounding all flights at the airport. The District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department reported in a social media post that a small aircraft crashed in the Potomac River in the "vicinity" of the airport.

Recovery crews in Washington, D.C. are facing challenges due to the Potomac River's frigid 35-degree temperatures, which pose risks of cold shock. Training programs emphasize the importance of protective gear and monitoring exposure time to safeguard responders in such extreme conditions.

As per the latest press conference from the Washington DC Fire Chief, all 64 passengers on the American Airlines plane are feared dead. Rescue operations remain ongoing as 27 bodies have been recovered from the river.

CBS News Miami's Chelsea Jones spoke with South Florida flyers who were traveling at the time of the collision.

Eighteen bodies were reportedly removed from the Potomac River following the Wednesday, Jan. 29, crash between an American Airlines regional passenger plane and a helicopter.

Officials say the conditions of the Potomac River are complicating recovery efforts of the bodies of the 67 presumed dead in a mid-air collision between American Airlines flight 5342 from Wichita and a military Black Hawk helicopter.

Darkness has now fallen once again over the Potomac River making this already difficult recovery mission more challenging. Boats remain in the water at this hour and we're told about 50 members of the NTSB are out.

WASHINGTON — The bodies of three soldiers who were on board a military helicopter that crashed into a passenger plane near Washington, D.C. Wednesday night have been recovered, one day after the deadliest U.S. aviation disaster since 2001.

A man has revealed the heartbreaking final text he received from his wife who was onboard American Airlines flight 5342 before it collided mid-air with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River in Washington,