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.

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).

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.

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

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

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 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.

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.

American Airlines said the jet had 60 passengers and four crew members, while the Pentagon confirmed that three soldiers were aboard the helicopter. There was no immediate word on fatalities.