The bleak admissions by 'on-edge' passengers taking the first flights out of Reagan National Airport after deadliest plane crash in 15 years

On immoderate different weekday greeting astatine 11 a.m., Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport would person already been buzzing with passengers for hours.

But connected Thursday, a consciousness of dread hung implicit 1 of the busiest airports successful the United States arsenic passengers arrived for the archetypal flights - hours aft the nation’s deadliest commercialized level clang successful 15 years. 

'When you locomotion done close now, it's benignant of eerie,' commented passenger Alexis Reyes, 43 of Las Cruces, New Mexico, who was trying to marque her mode home. 'It's benignant of scary and benignant of similar - on-edge.' 

Reyes, a web technologist who does enactment successful the D.C. area, flies successful and retired of DCA frequently, but successful the aftermath of the American Airlines and Black Hawk chopper crash, she told DailyMail.com that she 'never had this weird feeling before.' 

All 67 radical progressive successful the clang - 4 unit and 60 passengers from the Wichita, Kansas to Washington flight, and the 3 aboard the helicopter, are feared to beryllium dead, successful the worst aerial catastrophe successful a 4th century. 

Daniel Kocke, a 47-year-old Department of Defense worker based successful St. Louis shared Reyes' sentiment. 

'This is incredibly somber,' helium said. 'The information that not adjacent 12 hours agone you've got a level spell down astatine the aforesaid airdrome you're getting acceptable to instrumentality disconnected at, is eye-opening I would say, right? It doesn't marque maine consciousness existent bully astir flying.'

Kocke, who's besides an Air Force reservist, said the clang felt particularly idiosyncratic since members of the subject were involved. 

'It does truly deed location erstwhile your chap work members die,' helium told DailyMail.com. 

Aster Andmichael, 40, who works successful spot absorption and lives successful Washington, D.C. was astatine DCA Wednesday nighttime erstwhile the calamity connected the Potomac was unfolding. 

She was astatine the airdrome to travel her elder national father, who was flying to Indiana via Orlando, Florida. 

When she received a substance connection notification saying his Wednesday nighttime formation had been canceled, she went searching done the airdrome for information. 

'And past I asked and that's erstwhile I learned that this level crashed present astatine the airdrome and I started crying,' she said. 

She was inactive affectional aboriginal Thursday greeting arsenic she sat connected the loop of the baggage claim, wherever a fig of radical were camped out. 

'We're lucky, he's lucky, that it's not his flight,' she said, motioning toward her father. 'And I consciousness truthful bittersweet for the radical who mislaid their families.'

'It's OK to get stuck here. I privation each those rider were stuck alternatively of retired determination dead,' Andmichael added, choking backmost tears.

Adding a magnitude of fearfulness to DCA passengers' Thursday greeting question acquisition was the information that the boats engaged successful the hunt the dormant were disposable from galore of the windows astatine the airport. 

'It whitethorn good freak radical out,' conceded Rep. Don Beyer, a Virginia Democrat, whose surbuban D.C. territory hugs DCA. 

Beyer was among the elected officials milling around, talking to the dozens of reporters representing outlets from astir the globe who had descended connected DCA's Terminal 1. 

A newsman had asked Beyer however passengers were expected to consciousness flying close supra the clang tract with DCA scheduled to reopen astatine 11 a.m.  

Beyer pressed that aerial question 'is inactive safe.' 

'This was an mishap past night, successful the dark, which is typically erstwhile the grooming exercises are taking place. It is safe, radical request to travel back. People are anxious to get astir their business,' helium said. 

But that connection hadn't resonated with each the passengers. 

Gigi Dix, a 58-year-old authorities idiosyncratic from Milwaukee admitted successful the Dunkin' Donuts enactment that she was 'a small scared.' 

Had she ever been apprehensive astir flying? 

'Never. Until past night,' Dix said. 

While each different rider DailyMail.com spoke with said they'd proceed to usage DCA - implicit different determination hubs Baltimore Washington Airport or Dulles International Airport, Dix said she'd apt take a antithetic option. 

'No, I'll astir apt drive,' she said. 'I didn't cognize the hazard that was involved. I bash now.'