American Airlines jet found upside down and in three pieces after mid-air collision

An American Airlines plane was found upside down and in three sections after colliding mid-air with a military helicopter over a major river in Washington DC.

A total of 28 bodies - 27 from the passenger plane and one from the helicopter - have been recovered from the Potomac River after the two aircraft fell into the icy waters around 9pm local time on Wednesday night.

The American Airlines flight 5342, which had 60 passengers and four crew on board, was flying into the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport from Wichita in Kansas, when the collision took place.

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The US army Black Hawk helicopter, which had three soldiers on board, was on a training flight at the time.

An initial search and rescue mission to look for survivors has now become a recovery operation, Washington DC fire chief John Donnelly said in an update.

"We are now at the point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation," he said.

"We don't believe there are any survivors."

Transport secretary Sean Duffy said the wreckage of the plane was found upside down in three sections in waist-deep water. The wreckage of the helicopter was also found.

The collision occurred in some of the most tightly controlled and monitored airspace in the world, just over three miles south of the White House and the US Capitol.

Officials are yet to say what they believe caused the collision, with American Airlines chief executive Robert Isom saying they do not know why the military aircraft came into the path of the plane.

Transport secretary Mr Duffy added he believes the crash was "absolutely preventable" and both aircraft were on "standard flight patterns" at the time.

He added that there was "standard communication" between the plane and the military helicopter before the crash.

A few minutes before landing, air traffic controllers asked the American Airlines flight if it could land on the shorter Runway 33 at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and the pilots said they were able.

Controllers then cleared the plane to land on Runway 33.