The two cities are about 235km apart. Search and rescue crews “are working to get to the last known co-ordinates” of the flight.

It was the third major US aviation incident in eight days. Last week, a passenger plane and Army Black Hawk helicopter collided and plunged into the Potomac River near Washington, DC, killing all 67 people on the two aircraft. It was followed by a medical transportation plane crash in a densely populated neighborhood in Philadelphia that killed 7 people and injured 19.