More than 60 people are presumed dead after an American Airlines passenger jet and an Army helicopter crashed midair near Washington, D.C, Wednesday evening, officials have said.Flight 5342 from Kansas was on the final approach to Ronald Reagan National Airport when it collided with the Black Hawk helicopter before exploding a huge fireball.

There was no immediate word on casualties or the cause of the collision, but all takeoffs and landings from the airport near Washington were halted as helicopters from law enforcement agencies across the region flew over the scene in search of survivors.

An American Airlines plane carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter outside Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C. Wednesday night. A D.C. fire official said Thursday that “we don't think there are any survivors from this accident" and "we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation.

A key safety system was turned off on the U.S. Army helicopter that collided with an American Airlines regional jet last week near Washington's Reagan Airport, killing 67. Senate Commerce Committee chair Ted Cruz told reporters the Black Hawk helicopter had turned off its automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B),