On what began as a seemingly ordinary winter evening in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, a routine American Airlines flight preparing to land at Reagan National Airport was abruptly transformed into the center of one of the most catastrophic aviation disasters the United States has experienced in over a decade. Flight 482, arriving from Wichita, Kansas, was just minutes away from touchdown when it collided midair with a U.S. military helicopter over the Potomac River, a location notorious for its complex airspace and proximity to highly restricted federal zones. What initially seemed like a standard landing procedure spiraled into tragedy in seconds, leaving the nation stunned and grieving. Continue reading…