Breaking News: American Airlines plane crash LIVE: ‘Heartbroken’ Trump takes political swipe at Biden…..See More

The Federal Aviation Authority has confirmed US Army Blackhawk helicopter and an American Airlines passenger plane were involved in a mid-air collision.

Donald Trump has criticised Joe Biden and Barack Obama in a political swipe in response to the collision between a passenger plane and US Army helicopter.

All passengers are believed to have been killed when a Blackhawk military helicopter and an American Airlines jet carrying 64 people collided in mid-air near Ronald Regan International Airport in Washington.

Mr Trump, speaking at a White House Briefing, claimed former presidents Obama and Biden lowered the standard of air traffic controllers while in office. He questioned the part Democratic diversity policies played in the crash as well as the helicopter pilot and air traffic controllers, despite an investigation only having been launched today.

The crash saw the immediate shutdown of all runways and the suspension of all flights at the DCA Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport near the US capital. DC fire chief John Donnelly told media that 28 bodies have been pulled from the wreckage – 27 from the plane, one from the helicopter.

The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) confirmed the mid-air collision involving American Airlines Flight 5342, operated by PSA Airlines, and a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter while approaching Reagan National. An Army official has now verified that one of their Blackhawks was involved in the horrific crash.

The DC Police Department said: “MPD is responding to an apparent air crash in the Potomac River. Multiple agencies are responding.”

President Donald Trump said he had been “fully briefed on this terrible accident” and, referring to the passengers, added, “May God Bless their souls.”