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.

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.”

A deadly plane crash over the Potomac River near Washington, D.C. canceled flights to and from Ronald Reagan National Airport overnight. The airport reopened around 11 a.m. Thursday, as the search continues for the 64 people on board the American Airlines plane that collided with a U.