On Wednesday night, a tragedy struck the United States: a plane and a helicopter collided at Ronald Reagan Airport, leaving dozens dead, including several figure skaters. Here’s who the victims were from the plane that crashed in Washington.
Plane and Helicopter Collide in Washington
According to U.S. authorities, a plane with 64 people on board and a military helicopter with three crew members, which was conducting a training flight, collided while the commercial aircraft was preparing to land at Ronald Reagan Airport.
The impact led to the mobilization of more than 300 emergency responders along the Potomac River, which borders the airport and where both aircraft crashed. So far, 28 bodies have been recovered, 27 of which were passengers from the plane and one from the military helicopter.
Figure skaters among the victims of the plane that crashed in Washington
The American Airlines flight had departed from Wichita, Kansas, and was carrying numerous passengers who had attended an ice skating camp over the weekend during the national championships, as confirmed by U.S. Figure Skating in a statement.
“U.S. Figure Skating can confirm that several members of our skating community were tragically aboard American Airlines flight 5342, which collided with a helicopter last night in Washington, D.C. We are devastated by this indescribable tragedy and hold the families of the victims very close to our hearts,” the statement read.
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Who Were the Skaters Who Died in the Washington Plane Crash?
U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed this morning that there were no survivors of the crash, and recovery efforts for bodies in the Potomac River are ongoing.
Some of the skaters, coaches, and family members aboard the aircraft have already been identified. Several were American, while others were Russian citizens.
According to the Boston Skating Club, six of its members died in the accident, including skaters Jinna Han and Spencer Lane, as well as two of their parents.
Additionally, the Kremlin identified two coaches who were on the flight: Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who were world champions in the pairs category in 1994 and had competed in two Olympic Games. Their son, Maxim Naumov, also a figure skater, was traveling on the same plane.
Why Did the Plane and Helicopter Collide in Washington?
On Thursday morning, U.S. authorities reported that the causes of the tragic air accident are still unknown. Investigators will work to reconstruct the final moments before the collision, analyzing communication with air traffic controllers and the loss of altitude of the passenger plane.
Less than 30 seconds before impact, an air traffic controller asked the helicopter if it had the approaching plane in sight. Moments later, another radio call was made, and just seconds after that, both aircraft collided.
At a press conference, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth explained that the mid-air collision between a passenger plane and a military helicopter occurred while the helicopter was conducting a routine training mission. He described this as an error and assured that they would “get to the bottom of it.”
“Military personnel do dangerous things. They do routine things regularly. Tragically, a mistake was made last night. There was some kind of elevation issue that we have started to investigate immediately at the Department of Defense and the Army level,” he said.
