A man whose wife was traveling on the doomed American Airlines flight that crashed in Washington on Wednesday has revealed the heartbreaking final text she sent before the horror collision.

Hamaad Raza’s 26-year-old wife was one of 64 passengers on board the Washington-bound flight that left from Wichita, Kansas, before slamming into a US Army Blackhawk military helicopter just before 9pm on Wednesday night.

In a devastating interview with local media, Mr Raza revealed his wife messaged him just 20 minutes before the plane was due to land.

He said: “She texted me that they were landing in 20 minutes. The rest of my texts didn’t get delivered and that’s when I realised that something might be up.”

The man noted how his wife had left for Wichita with work but that she was not a comfortable flyer.

Mr Raza local outlet WUSA9:”I’m just praying that somebody’s pulling her out of the river right now, as we speak. That’s all I can pray for, I’m just praying to God.”

The horror crash has triggered the immediate shutdown of all runways and the suspension of all flights at the DCA Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport near the US capital.

The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) confirmed the mid-air collision involving American Airlines Flight 5342, operated by PSA Airlines, and a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter while approaching Reagan National. An Army official has now verified that one of their Blackhawks was involved in the horrific crash.

The DC Police Department said: “MPD is responding to an apparent air crash in the Potomac River. Multiple agencies are responding.”

Worryingly, all passengers on the plane and helicopter are feared dead. At least 19 bodies have been recovered so far, according to reports.

Rescuers are searching cold water for survivors.

An expert has said that investigators need to find out why visual separation between the helicopter and plane was not maintained.

Tony Stanton from Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority told CNN: “It’s very clear, looking at the flight paths of the aircraft and the radio transmissions, that the Black Hawk was asked to maintain visual separation from Flight 5342 for some reason –– and we don’t know that reason.”

He added: “That’s one of the areas that I would be interested in examining as an investigator. What caused the Black Hawk crew not to comply with the clearance they were provided?”