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.

The plan to add five incoming and five outgoing flights was included in the bipartisan FAA Reauthorization Act last year.

The skies around Washington are often crowded with commercial flights, military planes, helicopters and other aircraft.

As the American Eagle Flight 5342, a CRJ jet, approached the helicopter, the tower controller asked the helicopter pilot if he had the CRJ in sight. The helicopter pilot cannot be heard responding to the question before the two aircraft collided.

Lawmakers have expressed concerns about congestion in at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport amid a constricted space.

Rep. Ron Estes (R-Kan.) said Thursday that the deadly plane crash near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday night will “be a tragedy that touches our community.” Estes represents

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the military has identified the three soldiers killed in the Black Hawk collision over the Potomac River.

A regional jet that had departed from Wichita, Kansas, crashed into a Black Hawk while on approach to Ronald Reagan National Airport.

American Eagle Flight 5342 en route from Wichita, Kansas (ICT), to Washington, D.C. (DCA) was involved in an accident at DCA,” the airline said in a statement.

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is closed, according to an FAA alert posted Wednesday night. A ground stop will prevent planes from landing at the airport through at least 5 a.m. Thursday morning,