World champion figure skaters, a pilot planning his wedding and teenaged skaters seen as the "future of the sport" were among the 67 victims of the deadly midair collision between a commercial jet and a U.
There were 64 people on American Airlines Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas to DCA — including 60 passengers and four crew members. The Blackhawk Army helicopter had three soldiers on board. None of the 67 people on either aircraft are believed to have survived, officials say.
"Several members" of the U.S. figure skating community were on American Airlines Flight 5342, according to U.S. Figure Skating.
As of Thursday night, 14 of those killed have been linked to the skating community, including members from clubs in the Washington area, Boston and Philadelphia. The Figure Skating Club of Omaha said the tragedy marks a horrific day for every family involved and the sport as a whole.
Some skaters, their families, and coaches were on American Airlines Flight 5342 that crashed with a military helicopter on Wednesday night.
Two young figure skaters, two of their parents and two highly-regarded Russian figure skating coaches were among those killed after an American Airlines flight collided with an Army helicopter and crashed into the frigid waters of the Potomac River.
'I cried. It was tough'; A figure skating mother reacts to the death of a friend in the Washington plane crash
The U.S. Figure Skating Championships took place Jan. 21-26 in Wichita, Kansas. U.S. Figure Skating did not identify any of the members of its team that were on board. Doug Zeghib
Valley Figure Skating Club in Appleton was at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships: the event several people aboard flight 5342 were returning from when the crash happened.
The figure skating community in the Portland area is grieving after learning a group of figure skaters, coaches and their families were passengers on American Airlines flight 5342.
Here are some of the victims of the tragedy identified so far. First Officer Sam Lilley and Capt. Jonathan Campos Sam Lilley, a young fiancé awaiting his fall wedding, was piloting the American Airlines flight that was minutes away from a safe landing when a collision with an Army helicopter plunged both aircrafts and everyone on board into Virginia’s Potomac River.