An American Airlines plane and a U.S. Army helicopter collided near Reagan National Airport and crashed into the Potomac River, according to officials.

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.

In the three years before the deadly collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines flight near Reagan National Airport, at least two other pilots reported near-misses with helicopters while landing at the airport,