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.”

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.

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.