ARLINGTON, Va, Jan 30, (AP): Everyone aboard an American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members that collided with an Army helicopter was feared dead in what was likely to be the worst US aviation disaster in almost a quarter century, officials said Thursday. At least 28 bodies were pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River after the midair collision Wednesday night when the helicopter apparently flew in the path of the jet as it was landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, officials said.

Crews were still searching for other casualties but did not believe there were any survivors, which would make it the deadliest US air crash in nearly 24 years. "We are now at the point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” said John Donnelly, the fire chief in the nation’s capital. "We don’t believe there are any survivors.”

The body of the plane was found upside down in three sections in waist-deep water. The wreckage of the helicopter was also found. Donnelly said first responders on Thursday were searching an area of the Potomac River as far south as the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, roughly 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) south of the airport. There was no immediate word on the cause of the collision, but officials said flight conditions were clear as the jet coming from Wichita, Kansas, with US and Russian figure skaters and others aboard, was making a routine landing when the helicopter flew into its path.

"On final approach into Reagan National it collided with a military aircraft on an otherwise normal approach," American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said. "At this time we don’t know why the military aircraft came into the path of the ... aircraft.” Three soldiers were onboard the helicopter during a training flight, an Army official previously said. Images from the river showed boats around the partly submerged wing and the mangled wreckage of the plane's fuselage.

nvestigators will try to piece together the aircrafts’ final moments before their collision, including contact with air traffic controllers as well as a loss of altitude by the passenger jet. "I would just say that everyone who flies in American skies expects that we fly safely,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said. "That when you depart an airport, you get to your destination. That didn’t happen last night and I know that President Trump, his administration, the FAA, the DOT, we will not rest until we have answers for the families and for the flying public. You should be assured that when you fly, you’re safe.” Reagan Airport will reopen at 11 a.m. Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced.