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In this article * AAL Follow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT As rescuers continued retrieving bodies out of the frigid Potomac River on Thursday, the deadliest commercial air

disaster in the U.S. since 2001 is bringing long-brewing concerns over congested U.S. airspace into a full-blown crisis. Just before 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday, an American Airlines regional jet

collided with a military helicopter near Washington, D.C.'s Reagan National Airport. There were no survivors on either the Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet, which carried 60 passengers

and four crew members, or on the Army Black Hawk helicopter, which was carrying three people, officials said. READ MORE ABOUT THE AMERICAN AIRLINES PLANE COLLISION WITH AN ARMY HELICOPTER *

67 believed dead after American Airlines plane collides with Army helicopter * American Airlines CEO says it’s not clear why helicopter came into jetliner’s flight path * American Airlines

collision with Army helicopter is worst U.S. air disaster since 2001 * Deadly American Airlines-helicopter collision highlights concerns with crowded U.S. airspace * Doomed American Eagle

flight was carrying U.S. figure skaters home from a training camp * Trump lashes out at Biden, DEI efforts after D.C. plane crash A series of close calls at airports in recent years has

raised alarms among airlines, regulators and lawmakers. It is not immediately clear what led to the deadly collision on Wednesday. A full investigation could take months, if not longer than

a year. Officials on Thursday did not blame air traffic control for the deadly crash. In one of the recent incidents that raised concerns, a JetBlue Airways plane starting its takeoff roll

at Reagan National Airport in April came within a few hundred feet of a Southwest Airlines flight, which was told to cross the runway. Despite those close calls, there has not been a major

fatal commercial airplane crash on U.S. soil since February 2009. Wednesday's crash was the deadliest since November 2001. A view of the Potomac River from Reagan National Airport.

CNBC, Google Earth "The system is as safe as it has ever been," Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan said in an interview with CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Thursday

morning. Airline executives have pushed consecutive administrations to modernize air traffic control and hire more staffers to help alleviate congestion in some of the busiest corridors in

the U.S. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport's main runway is the busiest in the U.S., according to the area's airport authority. "The system has been in need of

modernization for literally decades now," Jordan said. "You've got equipment that goes back to the 1960s, and modernizing the equipment actually allows for better management

of the airspace, more throughput, so more efficiency."