But even before the National Transportation Safety Board completes its investigation—a neurotically thorough process that will probably take about a year, and thus meshes poorly with the news cycle and the conspiracy-theorist cycle—it is easy to see some of the lines of inquiry that crash detectives will pursue.

National security and military analyst Dr. Rebecca Grant breaks down flight operations in the ‘highly-traveled’ D.C. area after a regional jet collides with a Black Hawk helicopter.

RICHMOND, Va. ( WWBT /Gray News) - A retired pilot gave a first-hand view of what it’s like to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Chuck Smith says he has made that approach and landing hundreds of times in his career. He shared a video showing what it looks like to fly near Washington, D.C., and over the Potomac River.