DC plane crash: What we know about the victims and ongoing investigation

All 67 people on board an American Airlines flight and a Black Hawk helicopter that collided in midair while the plane was landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport near Washington, DC, are believed to be dead, according to officials.

This is the deadliest aviation tragedy in the United States since November 12, 2001, when an American Airlines plane crashed into a residential area of Belle Harbor, New York, shortly after taking off from John F Kennedy International Airport in New York City, killing 260 passengers on board and five people on the ground.

Here is what we know about the victims of Wednesday’s crash, what happened and what the initial investigations suggest might have contributed to the accident.

How did the plane crash unfold?

Flight 5342, operated by American Eagle, a regional branch of American Airlines, was flying from Wichita, Kansas, to the airport just outside Washington, DC. As it approached Ronald Reagan airport about 9pm on Wednesday (02:00 GMT on Thursday), the aircraft collided with a Sikorsky Black Hawk army helicopter.