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Officials have announced that they have recovered 27 bodies after a plane crash Wednesday night between an American Airlines jet and Army Black Hawk helicopter. There were 64 people on the plane, and three others on the chopper. There are no survivors, and this has changed from a rescue to a recovery operation.
Meantime, the United States Figure Skating Association has confirmed that members of the national team were on board the plane.
The crash happened around 9 p.m. local time as the American Airlines Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas, was approaching Runway 33. Sixty passengers and four crew members were aboard the commercial jet, while the helicopter carried three soldiers from Fort Belvoir on a training flight.
Authorities are investigating the cause of the tragic incident, which occurred under clear weather conditions with good visibility. Numerous agencies, including the FAA, NTSB, FBI, Coast Guard, and local fire and EMS departments, are involved in the response.
Operations at Reagan National Airport were suspended following the crash, with flights expected to resume later this morning.