Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a former Blackhawk pilot, talked with CBS News' Nikole Killion about the midair collision of a plane and Blackhawk helicopter.

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 evening. Three soldiers were onboard the helicopter and a massive search and rescue operation is now unfolding in the Potomac River.

The crew of the Army Black Hawk helicopter involved in the deadly collision with a jetliner had thousands of hours of flight experience.

The Black Hawk is a US Army workhorse helicopter. It has been flying for decades. One tragically collided with a passenger jet this week.

Ryan O’Hara, a father-of-one, was one of the three soldiers aboard the military helicopter, according to reports

A few minutes before the jet was to land, air traffic controllers asked American Airlines Flight 5342 if it could do so on a shorter runway, and the pilots agreed. Controllers cleared the jet to land, and flight tracking sites showed the plane adjust its approach to the new runway.

An American Airlines flight crashed into a U.S. Army Black Hawk Helicopter over the Potomac River as it approached Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

An American Airlines regional passenger plane with a seating capacity between 66 and 78 collided with a helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Jan.

The Army official said that the pilots were on a routine training flight along a familiar flight path that isn't particularly complicated.

He indicated 27 bodies had been recovered from the airplane, and one from the helicopter.

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