Several teenage figure skaters, their mothers and their coaches are among those presumed dead following a midair collision between an American Airlines regional jet and an Army helicopter that happened near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 29.
Nearly 70 people are believed to have perished in the crash, which happened when American Eagle Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas, collided with a Black Hawk Army chopper around 9 p.m. above the Potomac River.
“At this point, I don’t believe we are going to find any survivors,” Washington, D.C., Fire Chief John Donnelly said Thursday.
Among the plane’s passengers were more than a dozen figure skaters, their coaches and loved ones, according to U.S. Figure Skating.
They were returning from a figure skating training camp following last week’s 2025 U.S. Championships in Wichita, Doug Zeghibe, CEO and executive director of The Skating Club of Boston, said in a statement.
Several young figure skaters died in the crash
Six of the tragedy’s victims, including figure skaters Spencer Lane and Jinna Han, both 16, and their mothers, Christine Lane and Jin Han, were affiliated with the Boston club, said Zeghibe.
Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, a married couple who coached at the club, were Russian figure skating stars. The couple won a 1994 world championship in pairs figure skating and competed in the Olympics twice.
Inna Volyanskaya, a skating coach at Ashburn Ice House in Ashburn, Virginia, was also among the victims, Virginia Rep. Suhas Subramanyam said on social media. Volyanskaya was a former pairs skater for the Soviet Union.
Brielle Beyer, a 12-year-old figure skater from Virginia, and her mom, Justyna Magdalena Beyer, were also passengers on the plane.
“We’re heartbroken,” Justyna Beyer’s sister, Mariola Witkowska, told NBC News. “We’re just in shock.”
Family members confirm identity of two members of the flight crew
Thought the airline hasn’t yet released the names of the flight’s crew members, the stepmother of First Officer Sam Lilley confirmed to NBC News that he was aboard the plane.
“We will want to tell his story eventually,” Sheri Lilley said. “He was a wonderful person.”
Ian Epstein was working as a flight attendant on the plane, his sister, Robbie Epstein Bloom, confirmed to NBC News.
“He loved being a flight attendant because he truly enjoyed traveling and meeting new people,” Bloom said in a statement. “But his true love was his family. He was a father, a stepfather, a husband and a brother! He will be truly missed.”
A ‘fairly experienced crew’
The doomed Black Hawk’s passengers included three soldiers, one of whom was a woman, two U.S. military officials confirmed to NBC News. The Pentagon has not year released their names.