The United States' streak of more than 15 years without a major fatal airline crash came to a shocking end this week.

An American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided Wednesday with an Army helicopter while coming in for a landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C. Here, we look at what happened and, more broadly, at aviation safety in the U.S.

The midair collision at Reagan National Airport on Wednesday night has presented Sean Duffy with a major crisis just hours after he was sworn in as secretary of transportation.

On January 29, 2025, a PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ-700, operating as American Eagle Flight 5342, collided midair with a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter while on approach to Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). The tragic accident marks the first deadly crash involving a commercial airliner in the U.S. since 2009.

The American Airlines plane operating as American Eagle Flight 5342 collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport.

Watch as the National Transportation Safety Board hosts a media briefing on its investigation into Wednesday’s mid-air collision near the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

A deadly midair collision between an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter near the nation's capital is bringing renewed focus on the federal agency charged with investigating aviation disasters.

Video footage of the incident shows the aircraft flying at a low altitude, before an explosion happened at the moment of impact. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.

Authorities are combing the Potomac River for a second day in search of victims and more clues behind the deadliest U.S. air crash in over 20 years.

Trump said that he based his claims that the crash could be blamed on diversity policies within the FAA on his "common sense."

The National Transportation Safety Board says it has recovered a cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the American Airlines plane that collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport late Wednesday.

Sixty-seven people died in a collision between a Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet operated by PSA Airlines and a military Black Hawk helicopter.