The model of the plane involved in Wednesday’s collision with a military helicopter over the Potomac River never had a fatal incident before the crash. Sixty passengers and four crew from the Bombardier CRJ-700 series aircraft are presumed dead from the crash,

U.S. commercial pilot Rick Redfern was preparing to land at Reagan Washington National Airport about a decade ago when he spotted a bright red Coast Guard helicopter hovering about 50 feet (15 m) above the Potomac River.

The tragic accident involving an American Airlines regional jet and a military helicopter late Wednesday underscores how fatal crashes of passenger planes in the U.S. are rare, and “near misses” are also becoming rarer.

Flight data showed the plane coming from New Orleans looping around Reagan before heading to Baltimore moments after the collision. To jet was rerouted to Baltimore before 8:10 p.m. and landed at about 8:15 p.m., according to FlightAware .

A person uses a phone at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, in the aftermath of the collision of American Eagle flight 5342 and a Black Hawk helicopter that crashed into the Potomac River, in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., January 30, 2025. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

More than 60 people were killed when an American Airlines regional passenger jet collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday and crashed into the frigid Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.