A small aircraft crashed in the Potomac River near the vicinity of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday night, authorities said.

A deadly plane crash over the Potomac River near Washington, D.C. canceled flights to and from Ronald Reagan National Airport overnight. The airport reopened around 11 a.m. Thursday, as the search continues for the 64 people on board the American Airlines plane that collided with a U.

A midair collision near D.C. has raised concerns over FAA staffing, prompting scrutiny of air traffic control and aviation safety oversight.

It appears that the first major air disaster in the U.S. since 2009 has occurred while the Federal Aviation Administration does not have a permanent leader.

President Trump appointed Christopher Rocheleau, a 22-year FAA veteran, as acting administrator of the agency.

Musk has publicly clashed with the FAA and its former chief, Michael Whitaker. The Federal Aviation Administration is facing its first major aviation disaster in 16 years without a leader because Elon Musk helped push him out.

While that office may be ready to go to work, the FAA itself is not fully on the job. That’s because it’s without an administrator. Michael Whitaker, who had led the administration since Oct., 2023, stepped down earlier this month,

Mike Whitaker, the previous FAA administrator, stepped down on Inauguration Day after just over a year on the job. He’d repeatedly clashed with Elon Musk — now in charge of a group tasked with slashing the government’s headcount by President Donald Trump — over safety issues at his space company,