BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz had just finished two days of meetings with the Nattional Association of Counties Disaster Reform Task Force when he arrived at Reagan National Airport around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday for a red-eye flight back to Buffalo.

He was in the terminal when passengers began to realize this was not a normal night.

"We saw a few emergency vehicles rush out. That in itself wasn't strange because this is Reagan National and there are emergency vehicles always going around there but then they announced a ground stop where no flights would be coming in and no flights would be coming out," Poloncarz said.

Shortly after, he and other travelers saw more emergency vehicles now heading toward the runway area. Looking at details from the internet and social media they gradually realized the gravity of the situation — a commercial airliner and military helicopter had collided.

"It was very somber, very quiet. Airports are usually very loud but I think everyone at that point understood that something horrible had happened and none of us were going to be leaving from that airport that night," Poloncarz said.

It didn't take long for the county executive to have flashbacks to 2009. Poloncarz was county comptroller when Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashed in Clarence Center.

He remembers visting the site and seeing the victims' family members.

"I know what, unfortunately, those family members are going through now from this flight because of what I witnessed from the people who had to deal with Flight 3407 and the Colgan Air crash," Poloncarz said.

Until Wednesday, Flight 3407 was the last major commercial plane crash in the United States. Poloncarz believes that is in part because of those victims' families.

"They fought and fought and fought to change the rules associated with pilot training and pilot safety and other errors and I'm sure the same thing will happen here with regards to airspace and who uses airspace between commercial jets and the military in what is one of the busiest airspaces in the United States," he said.