'We were just right there:' Green Country woman reflects on close call after landing minutes before D.C. plane crash

A Green Country woman is thankful to be alive after she flew from Tulsa to Washington D.C. and landed just minutes before the plane crash over the Potomac River.

First responders are still recovering the rest of the 67 victims.

Antonia Belindo was on America Airlines Flight 5608, landing at Reagan National and the flight coming in from Wichita was just minutes behind and following the exact same path. She says being so close to a national tragedy and has made her slow down and live in the moment.

"It is just a huge reminder of how precious life is and how time is never guaranteed,” said Belindo.

Belindo travels for work all the time, so Wednesday was a normal day as she was flying from Tulsa to New York and had a layover at Reagan National in D.C. As soon as she landed, she texted her boyfriend like she always does, grabbed her bag and headed to her next gate.

"By the time I got to that terminal gate area, it was just emergency vehicles that you saw outside the windows towards every single gate,” said Belindo.

Belindo thought there was an incident on the runway but then she saw more and more emergency vehicles.

"Obviously something is going on. So, I kept looking on the news, I checked the FAA website, and it said that Ronald Reagan was closed,” said Belindo.

She says everyone in the airport huddled around the TVs, and that's when they saw the news that a plane and military helicopter had collided.

"As soon as that news really broke, the entire area just kind of fell silent. I would say it was an ominous silence for sure because we were just right there,” said Belindo.

Her plane had landed just minutes before the crash.

"I looked at my time stamps from the texts and it was 8:36 p.m. when I texted him; it was 8:42 p.m. when we got to the gate, and it was reported the crash happened at 8:48 p.m.,” said Belindo.

"To know that was going on and to know how close that plane was to actually being on the runway was very chilling, it was very shocking. It just turned into a deep feeling of grief for the families and the loved ones."

She says she and hundreds of others felt helpless, stuck in the airport while first responders raced to the scene.

"I think about those people who were on that plane, their families and their normal routines and how that was interrupted so quickly and so unexpectedly,” said Belindo.

More than 40 victims have been recovered from the Potomac River as of Friday night.