I don’t know of any other accident that has had this amount of impact on aviation but also in other industries,” one expert said of the 1982 crash.

Flight data shows the American Airlines passenger jet that collided midair with an Army helicopter in the nation's capital recently made two round trips between Bangor and Washington.

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport has been closed until at least 11 a.m. Thursday. Several flights out of Florida have already been canceled.

No survivors are expected after a passenger plane collided in mid air with a helicopter near Washington DC on Wednesday evening, officials in the US say. The plane was carrying 64 passengers and crew when it landed in the Potomac River after the collision,