Fatal crashes of commercial aircraft in the U.S. have become a rarity. The deadliest recent crash was in 2009 near Buffalo, N.Y. All 45 passengers and the four crew members were killed when the Bombardier DHC-8 propeller plane crashed into a house. One person on the ground also was killed.

An American Airlines regional passenger jet was involved in a mid-air collision on Wednesday night with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan Washington National Airport, officials said.

President Trump delivered a statement on the deadly plane crash near Washington, D.C., calling it a "dark and excruciating night in our nation's capital." The president said the federal government would be "working tirelessly" to figure out what happened as responders shift to a recovery operation.