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

Airlines have issued travel waivers to help passengers whose flights into and out of Washington, D.C., were affected following a deadly midair collision on Wednesday.

Three months before the fatal mid-air collision at Reagan National Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration launched an audit of near-misses at the nation’s busiest airports after a series of close calls that could have killed hundreds of passengers.

RICHMOND, Va. ( WWBT /Gray News) - A retired pilot gave a first-hand view of what it’s like to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Chuck Smith says he has made that approach and landing hundreds of times in his career. He shared a video showing what it looks like to fly near Washington, D.C., and over the Potomac River.

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.

Flights at Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C. were suspended Thursday morning after the collision of an American Airlines jet and a military helicopter Wednesday.

As the American Eagle Flight 5342, a CRJ jet, approached the helicopter, the tower controller asked the helicopter pilot if he had the CRJ in sight. The helicopter pilot cannot be heard responding to the question before the two aircraft collided.

We're learning more about the deadly collision between an American Airlines jet and a U.S. Army helicopter that has left everyone involved dead. It happened on Wednesday night as the jet was preparing to land at Reagan.

Flight operations are expected to resume late Thursday morning at Reagan National Airport (DCA) after a plane and helicopter crash Wednesday night.

Investigators confirmed they have recovered a cockpit voice recorder and a flight-data recorder from American Eagle Flight 5342, which will undergo analysis.

Divers are expected to return to the Potomac River as part of the recovery and investigation after the United States’ deadliest aviation disaster in almost a quarter century.