The tragic and “stunning” collision between an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter — killing all 67 people aboard — should lead to changes near airports, an aviation expert tells the Herald.

The deadliest U.S. air crash in decades happened late Wednesday night, as the military Black Hawk helicopter reportedly conducting a routine training mission flew into the path of the plane, which was on its final approach at Ronald Reagan National Airport near D.C.

The helicopter with three soldiers aboard crashed into the American Airlines jet from Kansas with 64 people, and both aircraft plunged into the icy Potomac River.

President Trump called the deadly midair collision an “hour of anguish for our nation.”

“A real tragedy,” the president said during a White House press conference. “… This was a dark and excruciating night in our nation’s capital and in our nation’s history, and a tragedy of terrible proportions.

“As one nation, we grieve for every precious soul that has been taken from us so suddenly,” he added. “We are in mourning. This has really shaken a lot of people… We’re all heartbroken. We’re all searching for answers.”

Much of the attention is on the pilot of the military helicopter, who had received warnings from air traffic control about staying away from the plane.

A few minutes before landing, air traffic controllers asked the American Airlines jet if it could land on the shorter Runway 33 at Reagan National, and the pilots agreed.

Then less than 30 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller asked the helicopter if it could see the arriving plane. The controller made another radio call to the helicopter, telling the pilot to pass behind the jet. Moments later, the helicopter crashed into the jet.

“It’s really a strange situation,” former pilot and crash investigator Dale Leppard told the Herald. “There was no reason for the helicopter pilot to not see the plane.

“The helicopter should not have been at that altitude, and there was no reason to not see that airplane,” he added.

The helicopter pilot could have been dealing with a mechanical problem and been distracted with that before the crash, or the pilot could have distracted with the training mission, Leppard said.

Ultimately, this crash between a military helicopter and a jet near Ronald Reagan National Airport should lead to safety changes near airports, he said.

“Hopefully, the military during their training missions won’t be able to get anywhere near an airport like that,” Leppard said.

MIT’s John Hansman, an expert on flight paths, said the airport next to D.C. is a complicated site with a lot of air traffic close to the city and Pentagon.

“It’s so tight there, but it’s common for a helicopter to stay over the river and out of the way,” Hansman said. “A lot of the focus will be on what was going on in the helicopter, and why they didn’t see the traffic.”

The crowded airspace around the airport was well known before the crash, said Robert Clifford, an aviation attorney from Chicago involved in numerous airline disaster cases.

“I can’t get over how stunningly clear it is that this was a preventable crash and this should never, ever have occurred,” Clifford told The Associated Press.

“There have been discussions for some time about the congestion associated with that and the potential for disaster. And we saw it come home last night,” Clifford said.

The collision was the deadliest in the U.S. since Nov. 12, 2001, when an American Airlines flight crashed into a residential area of Belle Harbor, New York, just after takeoff from Kennedy Airport, killing all 260 people aboard.

“We have an incredibly safe system with very good procedures and good training, but there’s always the small chance that something happens — that someone gets distracted,” Hansman said. “When we have an incident like this, it can be stunning, but I wouldn’t overreact to it. I don’t think it’s an indication of a major problem with the system and air traffic control.”

Trump during his press conference blamed DEI efforts at the FAA, and criticized former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for his diversity efforts.

When asked for evidence that this crash was the result of DEI hiring, Trump responded to a reporter, “It just could have been.”

“Because I have common sense, OK, and unfortunately a lot of people don’t,” Trump said.

Buttigieg on social media responded to Trump’s comments.

“Despicable,” the former Biden admin official posted. “As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying. We put safety first, drove down close calls, grew Air Traffic Control, and had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights on our watch.”

One air traffic controller was responsible for coordinating helicopter traffic and arriving and departing planes when the collision happened, according to a report by the FAA obtained by The Associated Press.

The configuration was “not normal,” the report said, but a person familiar with the matter said the staffing at the air traffic control tower on Wednesday night was at a normal level.

The positions are regularly combined when controllers need to step away from the console for breaks, are in the process of a shift change, or air traffic is slow, the person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal procedures.

National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said at a press conference that “we are going to leave no stone unturned” in the investigation.

Herald wire services were used in this report.