Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River. 78 passengers, cabin crew members and motorists died. Just five people survived, and only three are still alive to witness news of the American Airlines plane that collided with a U.

One of the pilots of the passenger jet involved in a mid-air collision in Washington, D.C. was a native of New York but grew up in Florida, where he learned to fly planes, according to records and statements from those who knew him.

One of the 67 victims in a crash involving an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter was from Central Florida, according to a family member.

A pilot on the American Airlines jet that was involved in a deadly crash near Washington D.C. Wednesday night was a graduate of a Florida university, officials confirmed.

Several federal and state investigations have been launched after an American Airlines flight and a military helicopter collided near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and fell into the Potomac River,

Both the captain, Jonathan J. Campos, 34, and co-pilot, Sam Lilley, 28, had been flying for years, according to family and friends.

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

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — At least 28 bodies were pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River after an American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an Army helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, officials said Thursday.

Daniel Izzo, a retired Navy SEAL master chief, has conducted water rescues after plane crashes and says winter conditions in the Potomac River make the situation even more dangerous. "It always seems like something like this happens at the worst possible time," Izzo said. "It happened at night. It happened in January."

An American Airlines regional jet collided with a military helicopter as it was approaching Reagan National Airport.

The captain flying the plane with 64 aboard was schooled in Florida. A Blackhawk helicopter collided with Flight 5342 near Ronald Reagan airport.

The devastating Air Florida Flight 90 crash on Jan. 13, 1982 and subsequent rescue efforts in the ice-covered Potomac River transfixed Washington and the nation