A memorial honoring the victims of the midair collision by Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Alexandria, Virginia, in January. Photo: Allison Robbert/The Washington Post/Getty Images On January 29, at 8:47 p.m., an American Airlines flight landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter a half-mile shy of the runway at an altitude of about 300 feet. Nineteen seconds prior to impact, the jet had received a warning about