A former FAA official and Embry-Riddle professor is urging a thorough investigation into what caused the American Airlines crash in Washington, D.C.

The FAA and NTSB have launched an investigation into how an American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter over the Potomac River.

U.S. figure skater Spencer Lane, 16, shared a photo from inside American Eagle Flight 5342 before it took off from Wichita, Kansas, to Washington, D.C., where it crashed into a helicopter mid-air.

An aviation expert is calling for taking "a bulldozer to the front of the FAA" after the fatal collision between an American Airlines flight and an Army helicopter over Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.

The FAA said the crash happened in some of the most tightly controlled and monitored airspace in the world, just over three miles south of the White House

An aviation attorney told Fox News Digital he expects the families of the victims of Wednesday's midair collision will file lawsuits in the coming days.

An American Airlines jet carrying 64 people collided Wednesday with a helicopter near Reagan Washington National Airport, with no survivors expected.

Aviation experts have warned for years about near collisions at airports around the US, citing air traffic control shortages and airspace congestion.

An American Airlines jet that left Wichita's Eisenhower National Airport on Wednesday evening crashed into the Potomac River after a midair collision with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

While landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday shortly before 9 p.m., American Airlines Flight 5342 collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter and crashed into the icy Potomac River.