A small aircraft is down in the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and fireboats were on the scene, the Washington fire department said. The airport said late on Wednesday that all takeoffs and landings were halted at the airport as emergency personnel responded to an aircraft incident.

A midair collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines flight from Kansas has killed all 67 people aboard the two aircraft.

A jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members 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.

Questions remain over the mid-air collision between a jet, which was carrying 64 people, including the crew, and a military helicopter carrying three soldiers

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) urged the public not to “speculate” about the cause of the deadly midair collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in a Thursday

Political leaders had warned about the dangers of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C. months before an American Airlines flight collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on its approach to the airport.

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.

RICHMOND, Va. ( WWBT /Gray News) - A retired pilot gave a first-hand view of what it’s like to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Chuck Smith says he has made that approach and landing hundreds of times in his career. He shared a video showing what it looks like to fly near Washington, D.C., and over the Potomac River.

Before the additional flights were approved, a senator warned that the increase could heighten the risk of collisions.

Investigators analyze flight data to understand the crash between an American Airlines jet and a military helicopter and exactly what was going on before disaster struck.

On Tuesday, a day before Wednesday’s fatal collision, a Republic Airways jet from Windsor Locks, Conn., was minutes away from landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport before it aborted its landing to avoid a helicopter in its way.