An expert believes that because a civilian aircraft and military chopper were involved in the air tragedy, the investigation may be as comprehensive as any in history.

The deadly crash in the Potomac after an American Eagle jet collided with a military helicopter has stirred memories of a long-ago tragedy in Washington, D.C. An Air Florida flight taking off en route to Fort Lauderdale crashed into a bridge and tumbled into the icy Potomac in January 1982.

Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River. 78 passengers, cabin crew members and motorists died. Just five people survived, and only three are still alive to witness news of the American Airlines plane that collided with a U.

One of the pilots of the passenger jet involved in a mid-air collision in Washington, D.C. was a native of New York but grew up in Florida, where he learned to fly planes, according to records and statements from those who knew him.

American Airlines Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas, was attempting to land when the plane and a Black Hawk helicopter collided.

The midair collision at Reagan National Airport on Wednesday night has presented Sean Duffy with a major crisis just hours after he was sworn in as secretary of transportation.

I don’t know of any other accident that has had this amount of impact on aviation but also in other industries,” one expert said of the 1982 crash.

CBS News confirmed only one air traffic control worker was managing the helicopters when the crash between a military helicopter and passenger plane occurred in Washington D.C. That is a job normally done by two people.

Residents in Wichita, Kansas, came together Thursday to mourn the lives of those lost on board a passenger jet that was involved in a deadly mid-air collision overnight at Reagan National Airport.

A deadly midair collision between an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter near the nation's capital is bringing renewed focus on the federal agency charged with investigating aviation disasters.

A midair collision between a commercial jet and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Virginia resulted in 67 fatalities, with no conclusive evidence yet on the cause of the crash.

The airspace around Washington, D.C., is congested and complex — a combination aviation experts have long worried could lead to catastrophe.