An Army Black Hawk helicopter collided midair with an American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas, at Reagan National Airport on Wednesday.

The crash near Reagan National Airport has renewed questions about the airport's flight load, considering its small size, among other issues.

An airspace cluttered with passenger planes and military aircraft. A history of near-crashes. And a growing shortage of air traffic controllers available to manage it all. Some experts, politicians and airport managers have been warning for years of the risks posed by the crowded airspace and volume of flights at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA).

The midair collision over the Potomac River on Wednesday brings back chilling memories of another tragedy in the same waters more than four decades ago—when Air Florida Flight 90, bound for Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport,

The deadly mid-air collision over Washington, D.C., has reignited concerns over air traffic congestion and safety risks at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, a tightly packed aviation hub that shares airspace with military and government flights.

The collision between an American Airlines Group Inc. regional jet and a military helicopter near Ronald Reagan airport in Washington left no survivors on board the two aircraft, authorities said.

Figure skaters and coaches returning from the national championships were aboard the American Airlines flight that collided with a Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport on Wednesday, the U.

Sixty-seven people died in a collision between a Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet operated by PSA Airlines and a military Black Hawk helicopter.

If changes aren't made, that near-miss becomes a mid-air collision,” one aviation safety expert said. “Unfortunately, that's what we had last night.”

As the American Eagle Flight 5342, a CRJ jet, approached the helicopter, the tower controller asked the helicopter pilot if he had the CRJ in sight. The helicopter pilot cannot be heard responding to the question before the two aircraft collided.

An American Airlines plane carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter outside Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C. Wednesday evening. Three soldiers were onboard the helicopter and a massive search and rescue operation is now unfolding in the Potomac River.