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.

The crew of the Army Black Hawk helicopter involved in the deadly collision with a jetliner had thousands of hours of flight experience.

WASHINGTON (7News) — There are a lot of unanswered questions surrounding the collision and crash at Reagan National Airport (DCA) between an American Airlines operated plane and a Black Hawk helicopter.

The midair crash in Washington D.C. is having ripple effects across the country. A Colonel and pilot at the Papago Park Military Reservation in Phoenix is talking about how they keep safe in the air when taking off so close to Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the military has identified the three soldiers killed in the Black Hawk collision over the Potomac River.

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.

A preliminary safety report from the Federal Aviation Administration reportedly found that air traffic control staffing was abnormally low at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on the evening of Wednesday, Jan. 29, according to The New York Times, which obtained a copy of the report.

The airspace around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport has long been problematic due to heavy military and commercial flight activity in the nation’s capital, according to industry insiders.

Dozens of people are feared dead after a military helicopter collided with a civilian airliner midair around Washington, D.C.

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.

An American Airlines jet collided in midair with a U.S. military Black Hawk helicopter while on approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The passenger jet was en route from Wichita with 60 passengers and four crew onboard.