air florida flight 90 was a scheduled Hold u.s. domestic passenger flight operated Being_in_operation by air florida from washington national airport ( now ronald reagan washington national airport ) to fort unk international airport with an intermediate stopover at tampa international airport .

the disaster resulted in Change a 32-month hiatus in the shuttle program and the formation of the rogers commission , a special commission appointed Choosing by united states president ronald reagan to investigate Research the accident .

handwritten notes taken Conquering by defense secretary caspar weinberger on 7 december 1985 indicate that reagan was aware of potential hostage transfers with iran , as well as the sale of hawk and tow missiles to `` moderate elements '' within that country .

`` new york times '' columnist paul krugman devoted Giving a chapter of his book `` the conscience of a liberal '' ( 2007 ) to the movement , writing Writing that movement conservatives gained Getting control Control of the republican party Social_event starting Process_start in the 1970s and that ronald reagan was the first movement conservative elected Choosing president .

although `` close to death Death '' upon arrival Arriving at george washington university hospital , reagan was stabilized Recovering in the emergency room , then underwent Placing emergency exploratory surgery .

besides reagan , white house press secretary james brady , secret service agent tim mccarthy , and police officer thomas delahanty were also wounded Bodily_harm .

these efforts were not particularly well received Receiving because in the 1980 presidential election Choosing , patco refused Agree_or_refuse_to_act to back president jimmy carter , instead endorsing republican party Social_event candidate ronald reagan .