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.”

U.S. authorities said on Thursday it was not yet clear why a regional jet and a U.S. Army helicopter collided at a Washington airport, killing 67 people in the deadliest U.S. air disaster in more than 20 years.

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

The collision between an American Airlines Group Inc. regional jet and a military helicopter near Ronald Reagan airport in Washington left no survivors on board the two aircraft, authorities said,

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.

The Federal Aviation Administration in a statement said American Airlines Flight 5342, departing from Wichita, Kansas to Washington, collided around 9 p.m. midair while approaching the runway with a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter.

Lawmakers have an interest in boosting direct flights to their states because Reagan is closer to downtown than Dulles.

All 67 people aboard an American Eagle flight from Kansas and an Army helicopter were killed in a collision Wednesday night over the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, officials said.

While officials have not said how many people died or were injured, the crash has already taken an emotional toll on the local communities.

The helicopter was part of the 12th Aviation Battalion which is on an operational pause following the collision. It will remain so until a review is completed. Officials will look to see if the Black Hawk was in the correct corridor and altitude when it hit the plane, CNN reported.

Investigators have announced that the black box from the Army Black Hawk helicopter that collided with a commercial jetliner has been recovered. They are reviewing the flight data recorder along with two from the plane as they probe the cause of the devastating crash.