Timeline of the events that unfolded after the passenger plane from Wichita, Kansas crashed into a PAT25 army helicopter near Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia.
Follow MailOnline's. READ MORE:Conspiracy theorists are pushing unsubstantiated claims that an Army Black Hawk helicopter's deadly collision with a passenger jet was deliberate.
The Army and Defense Department has launched an investigation into the crash as many questions regarding how a plane with modern collision-avoidance technology and nearby traffic controllers could collide with a military aircraft over the nation's capital. American Airlines Flight 5342 was approaching Washington's Reagan National Airport at around 9pm on Wednesday when the military chopper and plane collided in mid-air, before falling into the Potomac River
'A army pilot who doesn't understand how to navigate close to an airport? Even if training? Yeah this smells bad.' Another added: 'Crazy how this even happened. Helicopters are so easily maneuvered compared to a plane, in the video it looks like it drives right into the plane without trying to turn.'I find it hard to believe an army helicopter didn't have enough intel to avoid this,' another user wrote.
Read More Everything we know about American Airlines Flight 5342 after horror crash with Black Hawk helicopter 'Bottom line: this doesn't feel random,' replied another. 'The real question is whether it was a botched op, a targeted hit, or a larger agenda at play. Authorities have not yet indicated what caused the crash, but there is nothing to suggest any validity to the wild theories being shared online.
A massive search and rescue operation is in progress, with divers visible in the glare of powerful lights as they plunged into the snow-lined Potomac to scour the wreckage of both aircraft. US Figure Skating said several athletes, coaches and officials were aboard the flight, while officials in Moscow confirmed married Russian couple Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov - who won the 1994 world pairs title - were on the jet.
'Why didn't the helicopter go up or down, or turn. Why didn't the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane. This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!'
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