An investigation into how an American Airlines jet carrying dozens of passengers and an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided midair at Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C., will likely involve communication between the two aircraft, Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said Thursday morning.

“What we’re seeing right now is what happens if you have a lack of communication or a misunderstanding,” Rounds, who serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told “Fox & Friends First.”

Rounds said investigators will look at everything that happened during the flight, including potential mechanical breakdowns and avionic system failures, but he believes much of the discussion surrounding the collision will focus on communication between the aircraft and whether that communication was accurate.

“I’m sure there will be some second guessing, but I suspect that when everything is done and the dust settles the chances are really good that they’ll talk about a lack of communication between the aircraft,” Rounds said.

All takeoffs and landings from the airport were halted as dive teams and helicopters from law enforcement agencies across the region scoured the site for survivors. Images showed boats around a partly submerged wing and what appeared to be the mangled wreckage of the plane’s fuselage.

Rescuers on boats work, as the sun rises, at the site of the crash between a helicopter and a passenger plane near Reagan Airport. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

Reagan Airport will reopen at 11 a.m. Thursday, the FAA said. 

Rounds said while questions over safety around the airport will begin to surface, it is important to take care of the families of those onboard the two aircraft and first responders.

“This is a terrible tragedy,” he said. “Right now, I think we hold those families close and we think about them, we think about the crews and also those first responders that have been out there all night long.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.