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.”

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.

Flight recorders have not yet been recovered but the NTSB is "comfortable and confident" that the recorders will be recovered, Inman said. Search and rescue efforts are seen around a wreckage site in the Potomac River from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport,

Deadly mid-air collision over Washington, D.C., reignites concerns over air traffic congestion and safety risks at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport

The airspace around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport has long been problematic due to heavy military and commercial flight activity in the nation’s capital, according to industry insiders.

American Airlines Chief Executive Robert Isom said Flight 5342 was “on an otherwise normal approach” to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport when it collided with a military helicopter Wednesday night.

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

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).

A preliminary safety report from the Federal Aviation Administration reportedly found that air traffic control staffing was abnormally low at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on the evening of Wednesday, Jan. 29, according to The New York Times, which obtained a copy of the report.

An Army Black Hawk helicopter collided with a regional American Airlines flight that was on approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport near Washington, D.C. on Wednesday night.