Staffing levels at the air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan National Airport were "not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic," according to a preliminary report

An American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members has collided 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.

Fatal crashes of commercial aircraft in the U.S. have become a rarity. The last was in 2009 near Buffalo, New York.

An American Airlines jet with 60 passengers and four crew members aboard has collided with an Army helicopter while coming in for a landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.

Fatal crashes of commercial aircraft in the U.S. have become a rarity. The last was in 2009 near Buffalo, New York.

Authorities say everyone aboard an American Airlines jet that collided with Army helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C., is feared dead.

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.

Authorities have switched to a recovery mission in the Potomac River following a midair collision between an American Eagle flight and an Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport in Washington,

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.”

The crash near Reagan National Airport has renewed questions about the airport's flight load, considering its small size, among other issues.