An American Airlines jet with 60 passengers and four crew members aboard collided Wednesday with an Army helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C., prompting a large search-and-rescue operation in the nearby Potomac River.

As many as 60 passengers and four crew members were aboard American Eagle Flight 5342, and the Black Hawk helicopter was carrying three soldiers. There were no survivors.

U.S. politicians expressed grief and sympathy on Wednesday night after a passenger plane from Kansas collided with a military helicopter near Reagan National Airport.

Multiple fatalities have been reported after a horrific incident involving American Airlines flight 5342 and a U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter over

An American Airlines jet with 60 passengers and four crew members aboard collided Wednesday with an Army helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, prompting a large search-and-rescue operation in the nearby Potomac River.

A passenger jet collided Wednesday with a military helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington. (CNN, WUSA, WJLA, SEE PREFONTS)

Some experts, politicians and airport managers have been warning of the risks posed by the crowded airspace at Reagan Washington National Airport.

Reagan airport was at the center of a fierce safety debate last year. Lawmakers approved more flights anyway - ‘We’ve been pretty plain about our [safety] concerns, but it isn’t a good time to speculate right now,

Details are emerging about the Washington air disaster that killed 67 people — and some of those factors are only likely to fuel political fights. On Thursday afternoon, reports emerged from the

Congress added more daily flights to the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport’s schedule last year — and multiple other times over the past quarter century — despite

On Tuesday, a day before Wednesday’s fatal collision, a Republic Airways jet from Windsor Locks, Conn., was minutes away from landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport before it aborted its landing to avoid a helicopter in its way.

A retired pilot gives a first-hand view of what it’s like to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.Chuck Smith says he has made that approach and landing hundreds of times in his career. He shared a video with 12 On Your Side showing what it looks like to fly near Washington,