Pilots had reported near-misses with helicopters at Reagan National Airport in the years before the deadly crash

You don’t want to be the rookie on your first flight landing there,

said Campbell, who is also a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel

A number of us have been sounding the alarm about congestion for some time,

he said of DCA’s flight schedule, noting the

The airspace is both complicated and crowded as an increasingly high volume of passenger planes share the air, and communications frequencies, with military aircraft, VIP flights, White House transportation and drones flying clandestine operations,

he wrote

They don’t have time to be looking out the side window for a black helicopter,

he said

Joe Ross (baseball)former United Airlines pilot Captain

Some of it was luck. Some of it is technology. And mostly it was the tremendous job that the pilots and air traffic controllers do,

former United Airlines pilot Captain Ross "Rusty" Aimer told VOA

President Trump now oversees the military and the FAA,

he added

As a whole, the general aviation industry in the United States is outstanding,

he said

That was as routine a (commercial) flight as it gets,

said Richard Aboulafia, managing director of AeroDynamic

The runway threshold is at the river's edge. The Kansas flight was ready to touch down,

he told WUSA-TV in DC

Although extremely good because it makes it almost look like daylight, they have a sort of 'tunnel effect'

he said

I can’t get over how stunningly clear it is that this was a preventable crash and this should never, ever have occurred,

Clifford said

Even if everybody is doing what they’re supposed to be doing, you’ve only got a few hundred feet separation between aircraft coming in to land and the many helicopters along that route,

said Jim Brauchle, a former U.S. Air Force navigator and aviation attorney

I could not see him. I lost him in the city lights,

Feller, who retired from the Army in 2014, recounted Thursday

This was a disaster waiting to happen,

said Ross Aimer, a retired United Airlines captain and chief executive officer of Aero Consulting Experts

You’ve got two large airports. You’ve got multiple restricted areas. You’ve got altitude restrictions. Routine restrictions, and a lot of air traffic,

he said

Mark Warnersenator

We have raised this issue continuously; we've got very busy airspace."

In a press conference, Senator Mark Warner said on Thursday

This was a dark and excruciating night in our nation’s capital and in our nation’s history, and a tragedy of terrible proportions,

the new president added

We are now at the point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,

said John Donnelly, the fire chief in the nation's capital

All she wanted to do was help people, and DC, she thought, was the place to achieve her goals,

Hashim Raza said

I've been crying since yesterday,

Andemicael said, her voice cracking