Lawmakers have an interest in boosting direct flights to their states because Reagan is closer to downtown than Dulles.

Three months before the fatal mid-air collision at Reagan National Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration launched an audit of near-misses at the nation’s busiest airports after a series of close calls that could have killed hundreds of passengers.

Flight operations are expected to resume late Thursday morning at Reagan National Airport (DCA) after a plane and helicopter crash Wednesday night.

The Federal Aviation Administration in a statement said American Airlines Flight 5342, departing from Wichita, Kansas to Washington, collided around 9 p.m. midair while approaching the runway with a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter.

A collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and an Army helicopter at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport near Washington, D.C, killed 67 people, including more than a dozen figure skaters.

There have been a number of close calls around the country in recent years that concerned aviation experts and officials.

American stock was down, but the market impact appeared contained. There were few details on the fate of the passengers involved.

Ronald Reagan National Airport halted all departing and arriving flights until 11 a.m. Thursday after the midair crash.

The American Airlines flight was carrying 64 people when it collided with a Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport.

Two flights from Cincinnati into our nation's capital have been canceled Thursday morning after a passenger plane collided with an Army helicopter late Wednesday night.

US airlines had gone 16 years without a fatal crash until Wednesday night. But as impressive as that safety record had been, there have been warning signs in recent years of a significant risk of a collision like the one that just killed 67 people.