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 staffing at the air control tower at Reagan National Airport was "not normal" when an American Airlines plane and Army helicopter collided on Wednesday night, a report shows.

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

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.

David Freeman caught a flight to International Airport on Thursday from Reagan National Airport after a American Airlines jet collided with a military helicopter over the Potomac River on Wednesday night.

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).

Lawmakers have expressed concerns about congestion in at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport amid a constricted space.

DCA is one of the most demanding airports in the world. It also has what’s known as ‘helicopter alley’ with hundreds of police, military, news and rescue helicopters criss-crossing

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.”

A passenger jet collided with a helicopter while landing at Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday night the, FAA said.

Authorities are investigating an apparent crash involving a regional jetliner and a helicopter