At least twice in the week before Wednesday night’s tragic midair collision between a helicopter and a passenger jet at the airport in Washington, D.C., pilots had to abort landings because of helicopter traffic.

The Washington Post reported one incident was just 24 hours before the deadly collision which is thought to have killed all 64 aboard the passenger jet and three on the Black Hawk military helicopter.

Fox News said the Tuesday incident happened when “a different plane alerted the air traffic control tower that it had to abort its landing to avoid collision with a helicopter.”

“Yet another plane arriving at DCA from Charlotte scrubbed its landing on Jan. 23, again because of a helicopter,” the report said.

Passenger Richart Hart said in an interview, “They had to circle back around because there was a helicopter in the flight path. At the time I found it odd. … Now I find it disturbingly tragic.”

Wednesday’s crash involved an inbound commercial flight from Wichita, Kansas, and the Black Hawk from Fort Belvoir in Virginia.

Recovery efforts are under way and multiple bodies of victims have been recovered.

Fox News reported that the catastrophe “has raised concerns about frequent military training flights around Reagan National Airport, including a helicopter lane that intersects with the flight path of aircraft on the southeastern approach to Runway 33, where American Eagle Flight 5342 from Wichita attempted to land Wednesday.”

There remain many questions, including why the pilots did not see each other, as it was a clear night and the lights from both aircraft would have been visible for miles.

A federal report from 2021 noted that safe paths were needed for military helicopters in the region to avoid interfering with commercial flights there, and FAA rules implemented altitude limits for them.

Air traffic controllers had asked the Black Hawk pilot that night if he could see the approaching Flight 5342, and the report said the pilot confirmed, citing “visual separation,” “meaning he was trying to get out of the flight’s path.”

But the collision happened almost immediately after that exchange.

A former Air Force navigator told Fox that seeing other aircraft, while flying at night, may be difficult in areas like Washington because of lights from a vast landscape of tall buildings and towers. The navigator suggested it was possible the helicopter pilot saw other lights, but missed the approaching craft.

The Daily Mail reported the Black Hawk also was “not on its approved route and flying higher than it should have been.”

The report said the helicopter should have been no higher than 200 feet along the east side of the Potomac River, and in that path it would have missed the jet.

The report said the Black Hawk pilot was told to stick to the predetermined route and go behind the plane, but “sources said the pilot did not.” He was half a mile off course and at an altitude of at least 300 feet, the report said.