The FAA and NTSB have launched an investigation into how an American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter over the Potomac River.

Business Insider reviewed official briefings, flight data, and air traffic control audio tapes to piece together what happened before tragedy struck.

A commercial plane with 60 passengers and four crew members on board collided with a military helicopter with a crew of three near Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night.

An American Airlines flight and a military helicopter collided and crashed into the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport Wednesday evening.

Divers are expected to return to the Potomac River as part of the recovery and investigation after the United States’ deadliest aviation disaster in almost a quarter century.

An American Airlines plane and a U.S. Army helicopter collided near Reagan National Airport and crashed into the Potomac River, according to officials.

Investigators have already recovered the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder of the American Airlines plane that collided with an Army helicopter as the plane was landing Wednesday night at Ronald Reagan National Airport next to Washington,

A commercial plane with 60 passengers and four crew members on board collided with a military helicopter with a crew of three near Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night.

Airline pilots flying into Washington, D.C., have reported nearly a dozen near misses that were scarily similar to this week’s midair collision that killed 67 people.

Army helicopter. There were 64 people on American Airlines Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas to DCA — including 60 passengers and four crew members. The Blackhawk Army helicopter had three soldiers on board.

Washington’s National Airport has one of the most congested airspaces in the United States, with as many as 800 landings and departures daily, along with military and government helicopters constantly nearby.