Footage shows the wreckage of the Black Hawk helicopter that crashed into a plane floating in the Potomac River.

Video captured by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) shows the devastating aftermath of a mid-air collision between an American Airlines Bombardier CRJ-700 and a U.S. Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

The crash occurred around 9 pm, claiming the lives of all 64 people on board. There were 60 passengers and four crew members on the jet while three service members from the military were onboard the helicopter, which was on a training flight.

The CRJ-700, operated by PSA Airlines, was manufactured in 2010 and registered as N530EA.

The UH-60 Black Hawk, a military staple since 1979, has served in major operations worldwide.

Despite their reputations as reliable workhorses in commercial and military aviation, both aircraft plunged into the river following the catastrophic collision.

Ronald Reagan National Airport is in the centre of the nation's capital, near major federal institutions including the White House and Congress. It is also across the river from The Pentagon, the US Department of Defence, in Arlington, Virginia.