The midair collision between a passenger flight and an Army helicopter that officials believe left no survivors marks the first fatal disaster involving a U.S. commercial airliner in 16 years.
An American Airlines regional carrier flight carrying 60 passengers and four crew members and a military Black Hawk chopper collided over the Potomac River at about 9 p.m. ET on Jan. 29 near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, officials said.
The operation to rescue 67 people is now a recovery operation and no survivors are expected, officials said on Jan. 30. There were three people aboard the helicopter.
“We are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation. At this point we don’t believe there are any survivors from this accident,” Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said in a news conference.
The disaster has brought renewed attention to two other fatal accidents that both led to lasting safety changes in the aviation industry.
The last major accident involving a U.S. commercial airliner was in 2009. Colgan Air Flight 3407, a bombardier regional jet, crashed on approach to Buffalo, New York, killing all 49 people on board and one on the ground.
Pilot error was determined to be the cause, but the investigation also found grueling work schedules for pilots, long-distance commutes and exhaustion as serious issues facing regional carriers.
Investigators believed neither pilot involved in the crash had received proper sleep the night before after commuting long distances.
The deadly crash resulted in the Federal Aviation Administration passing rules including a limit of nine to 14 hours of maximum duty per day for pilots, a limit on the flying time in a day, and more rest time between flights.
The latest crash over the Potomac River has also brought back memories of a 1982 disaster in which Air Florida Flight 90, a Boeing 737, crashed into a bridge seconds after taking off from Washington National Airport in a snowstorm. The crash killed 78 people, with five people escaping the wreckage in the icy Potomac River.
Investigators found that the flight crew failed to properly de-ice the plane before takeoff, likely causing the crash. It led to the FAA changing de-icing regulations for airlines nationwide.
A question facing investigators and lawmakers in the aftermath of the Jan. 29 crash is whether Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is over capacity.
It has the busiest runway in America and has experienced multiple near-collisions in recent years. Last year, Congress approved more flights being added to the airport, but it’s not clear if the increased volume led to Wednesday night’s crash.
In May 2024, an American Airlines flight was speeding down a runway for takeoff at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport when it had to slam on the brakes to avoid a smaller private plane landing on an intersecting runway.