WASHINGTON — Former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says it’s a “tragic day in our country” following the crash between a Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines flight from Kansas near Washington, DC. Wednesday.

LaHood dealt with the last major commercial airline crash nearly 16 years ago, less than a month after he became DOT Secretary under then-President Barack Obama in 2009. 

What You Need To Know

  •  Ray LaHood served as Transportation Secretary under former President Barack Obama

  •  The Colgan Air Flight 3407 crash took place less than a month after LaHood was sworn into office

  • Following a collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 and a Black Hawk helicopter Wednesday, he says a key step will be listening to black box recordings

“One of the most significant things that happened during my four-and-a-half years as DOT secretary was the Colgan Air crash," LaHood said. "The Colgan regional jet flying into Buffalo. And the pilots were not really properly trained to land that plane, which iced up. The wings iced up as they were flying into Buffalo."

LaHood said of the incident resulted in the death of 50 people. 

LaHood said in the wake of Wednesday’s crash, new Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has “done very well” so far after recently being sworn into the role. 

As the National Transportation Safety Board investigates Wednesday’s deadly collision, LaHood said a key step will be listening to the black box recordings.

"If you listen to the recordings from the air traffic controllers, from the control tower, it looks like everything was pretty normal," LaHood said. "And, it also looked like, from the recordings, that they had recognized that there was an Army helicopter nearby."

LaHood notes the Washington, D.C. metro area is one of the busiest air spaces in the nation between Reagan, Dulles and Baltimore airports. And, that is likely something Congress and the NTSB will need to examine.

“You not only have three major international airports, but you also have the Army and the military flying helicopters around and across Washington, D.C." LaHood said. "Then, you have a lot of general aviation, and these are the smaller private planes that fly in and out of the region, so very, very, very crowded space."

The 2009 Colgan Air crash crash near Buffalo, N.Y., was the main driver for Congress to implement new aviation safety measures, including boosting training for pilots, and stricter rules to ensure pilots get enough rest.