Fatal crashes of commercial aircraft in the U.S. have become a rarity. The last was in 2009 near Buffalo, New York.

The red line shows the final approach of American Airlines 5342 to runway 33 at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

A flight to Washington D.C. scheduled to leave the Northwest Arkansas National Airport on Thursday morning was canceled.

Before Wednesday’s crash near Washington, D.C., there had not been a fatal collision involving a commercial aircraft in the ...