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

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An estimated 67 people are presumed dead after a Black Hawk helicopter collided with a commercial American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas, over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday evening.

A total of 64 people, including four staff members, were aboard passenger American Airlines Flight 5342, and three soldiers were on the Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk that came from Fort Belvoir in Virginia.

8:30 a.m. EST

Officials hold a press conference in Washington, D.C., saying all 67 passengers, crew members and soldiers on board both aircraft are presumed dead.

“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.