Audio from the American Airlines plane crash in Washington DC documents air traffic control's reaction to the collision.

So far, over 40 bodies have been pulled from the Potomac River near Washington DC, and the search remains ongoing.

A gasp can be heard on air traffic control audio as an American Airlines plane and a US Army helicopter collided in Washington DC on Wednesday, 29 January. American Eagle flight 5342 – carrying 64 people – and the military Black Hawk helicopter – carrying three people – crashed at approximately 8:53 p.

The recordings show the last communications between the helicopter and air traffic control, with the controllers describing the explosion and its aftermath.

The soldiers on the helicopter that collided with an American Airlines jet on Wednesday night were from the 12th Combat Aviation Battalion based in Virginia.

The midair collision Wednesday night between a regional American Airlines passenger jet and a Black Hawk military helicopter over the Potomac River near Washington, D.C., was "absolutely" preventable,

Sixty-four people aboard a commercial airliner died Wednesday night after it collided with a military helicopter midair near Reagan Washington National Airport. Both the American Eagle jet and Army Black Hawk are in the Potomac River.