BREAKING: FAA restricts helicopter flights near Reagan National Airport after mid-air collision with passenger plane

The Federal Aviation Administration has indefinitely restricted most helicopter flights near Reagan International Airport in Washington, DC. This is to keep the immediate area around the airport clear and prevent more tragedies like that seen Wednesday night, per the AP.   

The decision follows a mid-air crash between a US military Black Hawk helicopter manned by three personnel and a commercial, American Airlines flight on Wednesday. The passenger plane carried 60 passengers and four crew members. There were no survivors. 

Airspace over the crash site has been restricted because of recovery operations, however, now the FAA has restricted most all helicopter traffic in the immediate vicinity of the airport. There have been at least 40 bodies recovered from the crash site, with some of those recovered still being strapped to their seats. Planes are continuing to land and take off at the airport as the amount of air traffic returns to normal.  

The outlet reported, “Now the agency responsible for air traffic control is indefinitely barring most helicopters from using the low-to-the-ground routes that run under or parallel to the airport’s flightpaths, said the official” who spoke to the outlet. Authorities are still searching for the helicopter’s black box, which may give more insight into what took place on the aircraft leading up to the crash.

The voice recorder in the cockpit of the commercial flight has been found and investigators are trying to glean as much as possible from the device.  

Military aircraft such as the Black Hawk helicopter frequently conduct training exercises near the Reagan airport and along the Potomac River nearby. Fort Belvoir, the military base where the helicopter took off from, is several miles south of the airport along the western bank of the river.