Several people were killed when an American Airlines plane carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an Army helicopter on Wednesday as it was making a descent at Ronald Reagan National Airport outside of Washington.
In the United States, fatal crashes involving commercial aircraft have become rare. The most deadly recent collision occurred close to Buffalo, New York, in 2009. The Bombardier DHC-8 propeller plane crashed into a house, killing all 45 passengers and the four crew members. There was also one fatality on the ground.
The UH-60 Blackhawk and Bombardier CRJ-701 twin-engine plane collided Wednesday over the Potomac River, causing the aircraft to plummet into the water. 78 people were murdered when an Air Florida plane crashed into the Potomac in 1982.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the following are some of the most fatal commercial aircraft crashes that have occurred in the United States since the Air Florida tragedy: