A preliminary safety report from the Federal Aviation Administration reportedly found that air traffic control staffing was abnormally low at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on the evening of Wednesday, Jan. 29, according to The New York Times, which obtained a copy of the report.

Investigators analyze flight data to understand the crash between an American Airlines jet and a military helicopter and exactly what was going on before disaster struck.

There was no immediate word on casualties, but all takeoffs and landings from the airport near Washington have been halted.

Travelers were seen sleeping at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in the early hours of Thursday, January 30, as activity halted following a deadly collision between a passenger plane and a military aircraft near the facility.

MORRISVILLE, N.C. (WNCN) — Rachel Quigley described her drive to Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. Thursday as surreal. “As I drove to the airport today, I passed the pop-up tents and saw the Coast Guard,” she said. “It weighed heavily on my heart.”

As the American Eagle Flight 5342, a CRJ jet, approached the helicopter, the tower controller asked the helicopter pilot if he had the CRJ in sight. The helicopter pilot cannot be heard responding to the question before the two aircraft collided.

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is closed, according to an FAA alert posted Wednesday night. A ground stop will prevent planes from landing at the airport through at least 5 a.m. Thursday morning,

The report, reviewed by The New York Times, said that one controller was communicating with both helicopters and planes. Those jobs are typically assigned to two people, not one.

The airspace around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport has long been problematic due to heavy military and commercial flight activity in the nation’s capital, according to industry insiders.

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) services both military helicopters and passenger planes every day.

Leaders across the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia region, as well as federal lawmakers, are reacting to the tragic American Airlines plane crash near DCA.