Investigators plan to push forward on Friday with efforts to retrieve the two aircraft involved in a crash in Washington that killed 67 people and raised questions about air safety in the U.S. capital.

U.S. commercial pilot Rick Redfern was preparing to land at Reagan Washington National Airport about a decade ago when he spotted a bright red Coast Guard helicopter hovering about 50 feet (15 m) above the Potomac River.

Rescue crews rushed into the Potomac River, just three miles from the White House, after a commercial jet carrying 64 people collided last night with an Army helicopter carrying three service members. By morning, officials determined that no one had survived.

Ari Schulman told NBC Washington that he saw the plane crash while he was driving on the George Washington Parkway, which runs alongside the airport. He said the plane's approach looked normal, until he saw it bank hard to the right, with "streams of sparks" running underneath, illuminating its belly.

Two teenage figure skaters, their mothers and two world champion coaches from Boston were among the 14 members of the skating community killed.

By Trevor Hunnicutt, David Shepardson and Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Scores of people were feared dead after an American Airlines regional passenger jet carrying 64 people collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and crashed into the frigid Potomac River near Reagan Washington National Airport.

An American Airlines jet carrying 64 people collided Wednesday with a helicopter near Reagan Washington National Airport, with no survivors expected.

The plane collided with a helicopter just before it was scheduled to land. This is a developing story and will be updated.

National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Jennifer Hommendy has described the investigation into Wednesday night's crash as an “all-hands-on-deck event” for her agency.

The president's response to the American Eagle Flight 5342 crash was, by any fair measure, obscene — which he made worse with an ugly executive memorandum.

An American Airlines regional jet went down in the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.