Major US plane crashes: Eight aviation disasters that rocked America in recent years

A list of significant US plane crashes includes incidents from 1982 to 2009, including a recent collision between a passenger plane and a military helicopter near Washington DC’s Potomac River.

Here is a list of significant US plane crashes in recent years, after a passenger plane with 64 people aboard collided with a military helicopter carrying four and crashed into Washington DC's Potomac River Wednesday night.

- February 12, 2009: a Colgan Air Bombardier aircraft flying from New York to the small town of Buffalo crashes, killing the 49 passengers onboard.

- January 15, 2009: a US Airways Airbus A320 carrying more than 150 people collides with a flock of birds before making a spectacular landing on the Hudson River in New York, thanks to the pilot's exemplary actions.

- August 27, 2006: a regional transport plane uses a wrong, unlit runway, rather than the designated one and crashes shortly after taking off from Lexington airport, Kentucky, killing around 50 people onboard.

- December 19, 2005: a Grumman G-73T Mallard hydroplane operated by Ocean Airways, connecting Miami and an island in the Bahamas, crashes into the sea shortly after takeoff, killing both crew members and 18 passengers.

- October 19, 2004: a BAe Jetstream 32 operated by AmericanConnection crashes near Kirksville, Missouri due to poor visibility. Both pilots and 11 out of the 13 passengers are killed.

- January 8, 2003: a US Airways Beechcraft 1900, flying between Charlotte, North Carolina and Greenville, South Carolina, crashes into a hangar shortly after takeoff. Both pilots and the 19 passengers onboard are killed.

- November 12, 2001: two months after the September 11 attacks, an American Airlines Airbus A-300, flying from New York to Saint-Domingue, crashes shortly after taking off from JFK airport. The 251 passengers and nine crew members are killed. On the ground, several houses are destroyed or damaged, and five residents killed.

- January 13, 1982: an Air Florida Boeing 737-222 hits a bridge over the Potomac before crashing into the river just after takeoff during a snowstorm. The crash kills 78 people including four motorists who were on the bridge.