Hours after Wednesday's crash between an army helicopter and a passenger plane near Washington, DC, local officials announced a shift from rescue to recovery operations, with no survivors expected.
"Despite all those efforts we are now at a point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation," John Donnelly, the head of Washington DC Fire & Emergency Medical Services, said Thursday.
"At this point we do not believe there are any survivors from this accident," he added.
The bodies of 27 people have been recovered from the plane and one from the helicopter, the official said.
"The District Office of the Medical Examiner has lead on reuniting these bodies and these people with their loved ones. And we will continue to work to find all the bodies and collect them and reunite them with their loved ones."
On Wednesday evening, an American Airlines passenger plane and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter collided in mid-air near Washington's Ronald Reagan Airport.
The aircraft, carrying 60 passengers and four crew members, was en route from Kansas. The helicopter, which was on a training flight, had three military personnel on board.
The passenger plane crashed into the Potomac River.
