DC plane crash timeline: Midair collision involves 67 passengers, crew members, soldiers

Reports indicate that approximately 67 individuals are believed to have lost their lives following a tragic collision between a Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines flight departing from Wichita, Kansas, over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday evening.

The incident involved a total of 64 passengers, which included four airline staff, on American Airlines Flight 5342, along with three military personnel on the Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk originating from Fort Belvoir in Virginia.

8:30 a.m. EST

Authorities convened a press briefing in Washington, D.C., announcing that all 67 individuals on board both aircraft, made up of passengers, crew members, and soldiers, are presumed to have tragically lost their lives.

“We are now at the point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” Donnelly says during the briefing. “We don’t believe there are any survivors.”

11:00 a.m. EST

Flights resume landing at DCA; the first aircraft lands at the airport at 11:02 a.m.

A Department of Homeland Security source told Fox News Digital on Thursday morning that there are “no terror concerns” after the collision, and officials suspect the crash was “just a tragedy.”

Prior to the deadly collision, there had been a military aircraft-involved crash in Alaska on Tuesday. Officials said a U.S. Air Force F-35 fighter jet crashed in Alaska after the pilot managed to safely eject from the aircraft.

There have been at least 238 deaths and 227 injuries stemming 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.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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