BOSTON (WHDH) - Retired airline pilot Sully Sullenberger, famous for landing on the water in what became known as “Miracle on the Hudson” in 2009, expressed concern after Wednesday’s mid-air collision in Washington D.C.

While Sullenberger commends the progress of safety in the aviation industry, he says there is still a long way to go to make flying safer.

“There are system safety reports that are filed by air traffic controllers, by mechanics, by pilots, all the time suggesting safety improvements and pointing out gaps in our safety system,” said Sullenberger.

Sullenberger says he wants to see more restrictions when flying into Reagan.

“I have flown into that airport many times,” said Sullenberger. “I’ve landed on runway 33 a number of times. But what is important to us, is that we build in more safety zones. I think we need to have more altitude separation between low flying aircrafts and helicopters.”

Wednesday’s tragedy marked the first major commercial airline crash since 2009. While that seems long in the past, Sullenberger worries of incidents like this happening again.

“I mean, a few years ago, we had a lot of close calls that really concerned us, and reminded us that in spite of how many years its been since a fatal airline crash, that doesn’t mean we’re necessarily doing everything that we should be doing, or everything [is] exactly right,” said Sullenberger.

Sullenberger retired from commercial flying in 2010 and has worked as an aviation safety advocate ever since.

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