A retired pilot gives 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 with 12 On Your Side showing what it looks like to fly near Washington,

An American Airlines plane carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter outside Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C. Wednesday evening. Three soldiers were onboard the helicopter and a massive search and rescue operation is now unfolding in the Potomac River.

If changes aren't made, that near-miss becomes a mid-air collision,” one aviation safety expert said. “Unfortunately, that's what we had last night.”