American Airlines CEO

 'absolutely heartbroken' after

 D.C. crash involving 64

 passengers and crew, no

 survivors expected

American Airlines (AAL) CEO Robert Isom on Thursday morning expressed his condolences to the family and loved ones of the 64 people on board a flight that collided with a military helicopter Wednesday night as it approached Reagan Washington National Airport.

”We're absolutely heartbroken for the family and loved ones of the passengers and crew members and also for those that were on the military aircraft,” Isom said during a press briefing with reporters.

The flight, operated by American Airlines subsidiary PSA Airlines, was traveling from Wichita, Kan., to DCA when it collided with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter carrying three soldiers on a training mission, media reports said. US Figure Skating said in a statement that athletes, as well as their family members and coaches, were on board the plane.

Authorities said during the briefing with reporters early Thursday that they had recovered 28 bodies: one from the helicopter and 27 from the plane.

D.C. fire and EMS department chief John Donnelly told reporters, “ At this point, we don't believe there are any survivors from this accident.”

Donnelly said the immediate rescue efforts involved 300 responders operating in "extremely frigid conditions." Donnelly added the operation had shifted from a rescue operation to a recovery operation as of Thursday morning.

“ This is devastating … we are all hurting,” Isom told reporters.

In a separate video statement Wednesday evening, Isom said the company is “cooperating fully with the National Transportation Safety Board in its investigation.” The Pentagon is also investigating the crash.

The accident was the first commercial airplane collision since 2009, when a Colgan Air flight crashed on landing near Buffalo, N.Y., killing 50 people. The Wednesday collision was the deadliest plane crash since November 2001, when an American Airlines jet crashed in Charlotte, N.C., after takeoff.

The cause of the Wednesday collision is unknown.

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called the collision "preventable" but added that "the flight paths that were being flown from the military and from American [were] not unusual.” The plane was flying at an altitude of 400 feet at 140 miles per hour, media reports said.

The plane was a Bombardier jet that has not been known to have any malfunctions and is commonly used for short regional flights.

Newly minted US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said in a video on X that the members of the military on board the helicopter, part of the 12th Aviation Battalion at Fort Belvoir, were " a fairly experienced crew." Hegseth said the crew members were wearing night vision goggles while " doing a required annual night evaluation" as part of their training.