A survivor of a deadly 1982 plane crash into the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., says the Jan. 29 plane collision brought back memories of his unlikely survival more than 40 years ago.

The recent collision of American Airlines Flight 5342 with an Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk over the Potomac killed every person aboard both aircraft, a total of 64 people. The collision had some jarring similarities to the Jan. 13, 1982, crash that killed 78 people.

Joseph Stiley, 86, is one of five people who survived that disaster, when Air Florida Flight 90 left what is now Washington Reagan National Airport (DCA) and struck the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C., at which point it crashed into the icy Potomac.

“The memories just make me realize how lucky I am. I did what I had to do, and it worked,” Stiley told People. “I also say to myself, ‘Joe, you’ve analyzed, and you made a decision, and then it kept you alive.'”

Crewmen of a landing barge, with the bow lowered, fish a woman’s boot from the Potomac River after the crash of Air Florida’s Flight 90 in Washington, D.C., Jan. 15, 1982.  (Doug Chevalier/The Washington Post)

“She was looking for her baby, who was the last body recovered all the way down in the Chesapeake Bay a week later,” Stiley said.

When asked his thoughts on the recent D.C. collision, Stiley told People his “heart goes out to all the families, and it goes out to those that died.

“My biggest concern now is for the probable children that have just lost a parent … and, of course, the spouses,” he told the outlet.

The National Transportation Safety Board continues to investigate the Jan. 29 collision of the American Airlines passenger flight and military Black Hawk. There have been at least 238 deaths and 227 injuries from non-combat U.S. military aircraft crashes since 2012, according to the FAA.

There have also been multiple “close call” incidents at DCA since 2023.