Aviation experts have warned for years about near collisions at airports around the US, citing air traffic control shortages and airspace congestion.
Political leaders had warned about the dangers of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C. months before an American Airlines flight collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on its approach to the airport.
Several members' of the U.S. Figure Skating team were onboard the American Airlines plane that collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk Helicopter over Washington, D.C., the governing body said in a statement.
Authorities are investigating an apparent crash involving a regional jetliner and a helicopter near a Washington, D.C., area airport, according to U.S. government and industry officials.
"Just the horror that the parents are going through. It just that blows me away. It makes me so sad for the families," said Joanne Kispert, 74, whose father died in the 2001 crash of American Airlines Flight 587 in New York in 2001.
The flight appeared to collide with a helicopter just before it was scheduled to land. This is a developing story and will be updated.
Officials have begun identifying victims of a deadly midair collision between an American Airlines plane and a U.S. Army helicopter
An American Airlines plane and an Army helicopter collided Wednesday night near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
Wednesday night’s crash of an American Airlines commuter plane in Washington could be one of the worst disasters for the Fort Worth-based airline in more than two decades.
Authorities say everyone aboard an American Airlines jet that collided with Army helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington is feared dead.
“While performing a training mission a United States Army UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter from Bravo Company, 12th Aviation Battalion, Davison Army Airfield, Fort Belvoir, Va., collided in midair with an American Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet Flight 5342 last night at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport," he said.