Emergency response units search the crash site of the American Airlines plane on the Potomac River after the plane crashed on approach to Reagan National Airport on Jan. 30, 2025.
Andrew Harnik | Getty Images
As rescuers continued retrieving bodies out of the frigid Potomac River on Thursday, the deadliest commercial air disaster in the U.S. since 2001 is bringing long-brewing concerns over congested U.S. airspace into a full-blown crisis.
Just before 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday, an American Airlines regional jet collided with a military helicopter near Washington, D.C.’s Reagan National Airport. There were no survivors on either the Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet, which carried 60 passengers and four crew members, or on the Army Black Hawk helicopter, which was carrying three people, officials said.
A series of close calls at airports in recent years has raised…
