Who were the D.C. plane crash victims? Figure skaters, a soon-to-wed pilot, civil rights lawyer among those killed in American Airlines-Black Hawk collision

Yahoo

31-01-2025

Officials believe that all 67 people aboard an American Airlines flight and an Army helicopter were killed when the two aircraft collided in midair while approaching Washington's Reagan National Airport Wednesday night.
As of reporting, at least 28 bodies — including those of three soldiers who were aboard the helicopter — have been pulled from the Potomac River amid an ongoing recovery effort. The cause of the crash is still being investigated.
Neither American Airlines nor U.S. aviation authorities have released an official list of the passengers and crew aboard the commercial flight, which originated in Wichita, Kan. But a number of them have been identified in media reports, including several young figure skaters, their coaches and their family members who were returning from a development camp and the U.S. Figure Skating Championships that happened last week in Wichita.
Here's what we know about the groups and people confirmed to have been directly impacted by the crash. Follow Yahoo News' live coverage of the crash here.
Six people associated with the Skating Club of Boston were on the plane that crashed Wednesday, CEO Doug Zeghibe told a media press conference Thursday morning. The victims were two up-and-coming teenage skaters, their respective mothers and two former Russian figure skating professionals turned coaches.
'Six is a horrific number for us,' Zeghibe said. 'But we're fortunate and grateful it wasn't more than six. This will have long, reaching impacts for our skating community.'
'Spencer, in the best way possible, was a crazy kid,' Zeghibe said. 'Highly talented, like incredibly talented. Has not been skating very long and rocketed to the top of the sport. Very fun, very cerebral, a good thinker.'
His mom, Christine, was also on the flight. Her husband, Lane's father, Douglas, told WCVB5 that Christine was a 'creative powerhouse' who would do anything for her children.
On Wednesday, Lane shared a series of photos on his Instagram celebrating his experience at the development camp in Wichita.
'Huge thank you to all the amazing friends, coaches, and faculty that i have met over the last week,' he wrote. 'It was such an amazing experience.'
'Jinna was just a wonderful kid,' Zeghibe said. 'Great athlete, great competitor. Loved by all.'
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A post shared by Evgenia Shishkova&Vadim Naumov (@team.genia.vadim)
Shishkova and Naumov were former world champion skaters who represented Russia in the 1992 and 1994 Winter Olympics before turning to coaching. They had worked as coaches for the Skating Club of Boston since 2017.
Lyudmila Velikova, who used to coach Shishkova and Naumov, told Russian state news agency Tass she had been in touch with the couple before last week's event in Kansas, the Associated Press reported.
'Everything was going well for them. They traveled to the main competitions in America and they had very good, worthy students,' Velikova said. 'Many people wanted to work with them.'
One of Shishkova and Naumov's top figure skating students was their only child, 23-year-old Maxim Naumov, who finished in fourth place last week at the championships in Wichita. Maxim flew home on a separate flight Monday with Zeghibe.
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A post shared by Everly & Alydia Livingston (@ice_skating_sisters)
InsideNoVa, a northern Virginia-based news outlet, and People magazine both named the Livingston sisters as victims of the plane crash.
Both sisters qualified for the national figure skating development team last week.
'We are devastated to hear the news of American Eagle flight 5342,' the Washington Figure Skating Club posted on Instagram. 'Our thoughts and prayers are with our skating family during this difficult time.'
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A post shared by @innasskaters
A skating coach at Ashburn Ice House, Volyanskaya traveled to Wichita because she trained Alydia Livingston. Before becoming a coach 15 years ago, Volyanskaya was a skater who represented the Soviet Union at competitions in the 1980s.
Volyanskaya's ex-husband and fellow skating coach Ross Lansel told News4 Northern Virginia that Volyanskaya was 'one of the best skaters I've ever seen.'
'Just knowing the impact she made to all the skaters and everyone just hurts my soul and just I wish all those kids that she taught, just my condolences and I wish them — all my prayers go out to them,' Lansel said. 'I wish them the best of life and everything because I know it's going to be so hard without her. It's tough because as a figure skating coach, you mean a lot to these kids and you're like the individual person for them.'
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A post shared by University of Delaware Figure Skating Club (@udfsc)
Kay was one of five members of the University of Delaware Figure Skating Club who went to the national development camp in Wichita, according to a post shared on the club's Instagram page last week.
Not everyone mentioned in the post was on the plane that crashed, however. Both Emmanuel Savary and Zoe and Jerry Stone posted photos on their Instagram Stories referencing the crash on Thursday, confirming they were not on the flight.
USA Today, however, named Kay and another young skater, Angela Yang, as being on the flight.
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A post shared by University of Delaware Figure Skating Club (@udfsc)
'Had so so much fun at camp!!!' Yang wrote on Instagram after the national development camp wrapped up. 'I'm really gonna miss my friends and all the great coaches! I can't wait for next year!'
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A post shared by The Skating Lesson (@theskatinglesson)
Before becoming a coach and training skaters like Kay and Yang, Kirsanov was an ice dancer himself who competed for the U.S., Azerbaijan and Russia.
In the aftermath of the crash news, Kirsanov's wife, Natalya Gudin, told ABC News she 'lost everything.'
Gudin, who is also a skating coach, had decided to stay home in Delaware last week rather than travel with her husband. She said the last time she spoke to him was when he boarded the flight Wednesday.
'I lost my husband, I lost my students, I lost my friends,' Gudin said. 'I need my husband back. I need his body back.'
As of Thursday afternoon, three of the four crew members aboard the American Airlines flight had been identified.
EXCLUSIVE: The father of the pilot onboard the American Airlines Plane identifies him as 28 Year-old- Sam Lilley. His father, who is also a pilot, says he was engaged to be married, started his training in 2019 and was the first officer on the flight Wednesday. @FOX5Atlanta pic.twitter.com/HVRwORvpRk
— Eric Perry (@Ericperrytv) January 30, 2025
Lilley's father, Tim Lilley, confirmed to NewsNation that his son was a pilot for the regional airline owned by American and was months away from being promoted to airline captain.
'Samuel was in the prime of his life,' Lilley said. 'He was engaged to a beautiful, wonderful girl and we were all excited about her joining the family.'
An unnamed fellow pilot from the airline told CNN that Campos was on the flight and had been a captain for American Airlines since 2022.
Epstein's wife, Debi, shared the news 'with a very heavy heart and extreme sadness' on Facebook Thursday morning.
'Ian Epstein was one of the flight attendants on American Airlines Flight 5342,' she wrote. 'Please pray for Ian and our family as we travel to DC.'
Kiah Duggins, 30, was a civil rights attorney for the nonprofit Civil Rights Corps in Washington, D.C. She was visiting her hometown of Wichita to be with her mother during a surgical procedure before she headed back to D.C. Howard University officials said Duggins 'was set to begin a new chapter' at the university's law school this fall. Harriet's Wildest Dreams, a Black-led community defense hub, posted the following tribute to Duggins on Instagram.
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A post shared by Harriets Wildest Dreams (@harrietsdreams)
The United Association steamfitters' union, which represents workers involved in the installation and maintenance of piping systems in residential, commercial and industrial projects, said in a statement that several members of its Maryland-based organization were on the American Airlines flight.
'We are heartbroken to confirm that four members of UA Steamfitters Local 602 were among the victims of the American Airlines Flight 5342 crash yesterday,' the union wrote. 'These members will be forever in our hearts, and may God bless them and their loved ones. May they forever rest in peace.'
The names of the four union members have not been released.
We're heartbroken to share that four UA Brothers were among the victims of the tragic crash of American Airlines Flight 5342. May they rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/ZW57pvPqoB
— United Association (@UAPipeTrades) January 30, 2025
There was a group of friends on the flight returning from spending a few days on a hunting trip in Kansas, the New York Times reported.
'It was a boys' trip,' Shawna Slarb, a cousin of one of the hunters, told the Times. 'They were there on a duck hunt.'
Slarb said her cousin who was on the trip, Michael Stovall, was flying with at least six of his friends. One of them was identified as Jesse Pitcher by his father, Jameson.
'He said he'd see me when he got back,' Jameson said about his son.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday that the soldiers aboard the Army helicopter that crashed were a captain, staff sergeant and chief warrant officer, but they have yet to be identified by name.
'It was a fairly experienced crew,' Hegseth said in a video shared on X. 'It's a tragedy, a horrible loss of life.'
Jonathan Koziol, a retired Army chief warrant officer who now serves as the chief of staff for the Headquarters Department of the Army Aviation Directorate, told reporters Thursday afternoon that the Black Hawk crew was on a nighttime qualification training flight. There was an instructor pilot aboard who was evaluating how another pilot navigated flight routes around the Potomac River.
Koziol said the instructor pilot had more than 1,000 flight hours in a Black Hawk and the other pilot had more than 500 hours.