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.”

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

More than 60 people were killed when an American Airlines regional passenger jet collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday and crashed into the frigid Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

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 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 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.

Several members' of the U.S. Figure Skating community were onboard the American Airlines plane that collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk Helicopter over Washington, D.C., the governing body said in a statement.

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

Chief John Donnelly, DC Fire and EMS said the mission has switched from a rescue to a recovery. They have recovered 27 bodies from the American Airlines flight and one from the helicopter. Donnelly said there were no survivors. Officials from area medical examiner offices are working to identify those killed in the crash.

A regional jet flown for American Airlines Group Inc. collided in a deadly midair crash with a military helicopter as it flew into Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, prompting a search and rescue operation for any survivors in the Potomac River.

A view of emergency response to Wednesday night’s fatal crash of a passenger jet landing at Reagan National Airport and an Army helicopter. The body of the plane was found upside-down in three sections in waist-deep water in the Potomac River.