Everyone aboard an American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members that collided with an Army helicopter was feared dead in what was likely to be the worst U.S. aviation disaster in almost a quarter century,

Fatal crashes of commercial aircraft in the U.S. have become a rarity. The last was in 2009 near Buffalo, New York.

Everyone aboard an American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members that collided with an Army helicopter was feared dead in what was likely to be the worst U.S. aviation disaster in almost a quarter century,

May 11, 1996: A Valujet Airlines flight crashed into the Everglades about 10 minutes after takeoff from the Miami International Airport. The crash killed all 105 passengers and five crew members. Oct. 31, 1994: An American Eagle flight in Roselawn, Indiana, crashed, killing 64 passengers and four crew members.

It's been more than two decades since American Airlines, the nation's largest carrier, was involved in a deadly crash.

Wednesday night’s crash of an American Airlines commuter plane in Washington could be one of the worst disasters for the Fort Worth-based airline in more than two decades.

The last major collision of a commercial U.S. airline dates back to 2009, when a Colgan Air incident left 50 dead near Buffalo, New York. Federal regulators tightened safety requirements following the crash, including bolstering aircraft carrier inspection requirements and pilot training hours.

Everyone aboard an American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members that collided with an Army helicopter was feared dead in what was likely to be the worst U.S. aviation disaster in almost a quarter century,

Everyone aboard a plane that collided with an Army helicopter near Washington, D.C., are feared dead, which would make it the deadliest U.S. air crash in nearly 24 years.

An Army Black Hawk helicopter collided midair with an American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas, at Reagan National Airport on Wednesday.

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