An American Airlines flight carrying 60 passengers collided in mid-air with a helicopter in Washington DC. The plane crashed in the Potomac River, according to the DC Fire and EMS Department

Two local residents spoke to local media of how they found out about the incident.

One man, Jimmy Mazeo, says he noticed the plane flight patterns dispersing from their regular ones in the sky, and then saw what looked like a "white flare" in the sky.

"We thought they were shooting stars" he said, adding that he didn't "think much of it" until he saw the emergency services arriving at the scene.