Wednesday’s fatal collision and two other incidents dramatically illustrate the challenges pilots and air traffic controllers face in the complex, security-sensitive skies above the nation’s capital.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said they have launched an investigation into the cause of the crash.

The president at points acknowledged that it was too soon to draw conclusions as he encouraged the nation to pray for the victims. But he moved nonetheless to assign blame.

Federal authorities are asking questions as to how the collision between an American Airlines flight and a military helicopter could have occurred.

We are now at the point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” said John Donnelly, the fire chief in the nation’s capital.

There was a mid-air collision between a commercial airliner and a Sikorsky H-60 Black Hawk helicopter Wednesday night over the Capital Region. “The FAA and NTSB will investigate,” the statement added.

Multiple people are dead after passenger jet collides with a military helicopter midair near Reagan National Airport.

A plane collided in midair with a helicopter approaching Reagan Washington National Airport, near the Potomac River, Wednesday night, officials set. A rescue operation was underway, officials said. Multiple 911 callers reported the crash near the river just before 8:55 p.

Several of the passengers and crew aboard an American Airlines flight and a military helicopter were identified and a black box was recovered on Thursday.

A man has revealed the heartbreaking final text he received from his wife who was onboard American Airlines flight 5342 before it collided mid-air with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River in Washington,

Search efforts continue after an American Airlines plane from Wichita, with 64 people on board, collided with an Army helicopter near Washington, D.C., and crashed into the Potomac River.