D.C. Plane Crash Victims: What We Know

Yahoo

31-01-2025

A memorial for the victims of the midair collision between an American Airlines plane and a military helicopter is displayed at the Skating Club of Boston in Norwood, Mass., on Jan. 30, 2025. Credit - Ziyu Julian Zhu—Xinhua/Getty Images
All 67 people in the horrific midair collision between a passenger plane and an Army helicopter on Wednesday are believed to be dead, in the deadliest aviation incident involving a U.S. commercial aircraft in 22 years.
The PSA Airline-operated commercial plane, which had 60 passengers and 4 crew members, had been headed for the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) in Virginia from Wichita, Kans. when it collided with the helicopter, which had three personnel on board.
President Donald Trump said Thursday no one survived the crash. Recovery efforts continued on Friday morning, and as of Jan. 30, more than half of the victims' bodies have been recovered, per Reuters. Families and friends of the victims have since identified some of them and paid tributes.
Here's what we know about the victims.
The three soldiers onboard the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter that collided with American Eagle flight 5342 were from B Company, 12th Combat Aviation Battalion, based at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a press conference Thursday said the soldiers were a captain, a staff sergeant, and a chief warrant officer conducting 'a routine annual retraining of night flights.'
Jonathan Koziol, chief of staff of the Army's aviation directorate, told reporters that the crew members were 'a very experienced group.' The instructor pilot, in command of the aircraft, had 1,000 flying hours, Koziol said, and the other pilot, a woman, had 500 hours. The third soldier was a crew chief, who typically rides the back of the helicopter.
The U.S. Army has not named the soldiers pending next-of-kin notifications, though Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves on X named the chief warrant officer as Brooksville native Andrew Eaves. News outlets, including the Macon Beacon, have confirmed Eaves' death following the collision. Per the Macon Beacon, Eaves 'was a Central Academy graduate who grew up in the Brooksville area.'
CBS News also identified the helicopter crew chief as29-year-old Ryan O'Hara. He is survived by his wife and his 1-year-old son.
Jonathan Campos, 34, has been identified as the captain of American Eagle flight 5342. Campos was a 2015 graduate of Aeronautical Science at the Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla., which has since said in a Thursday statement that it 'is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of' Campos.
Campos' aunt, speaking to the New York Times, said the pilot had been working at PSA Airlines, which operated the flight, for eight years. Epic Flight Academy, where Campos earned his Certified Flight Instructor rating from, also issued a statement: 'He was a skilled and dedicated pilot with an undeniable passion for flying.'
Sam Lilley, 28, was Campos' co-pilot on American Eagle flight 5342, his father Timothy confirmed to FOX 5 Atlanta. Lilley's father said Lilley began his flight training in 2019 and had been working with PSA Airlines for two years. Lilley was also engaged.
Ian Epstein was one of two flight attendants onboard American Eagle flight 5342. His family confirmed his death in a statement on Facebook. According to Charlotte, N.C.-based station WSOC-TV, Epstein was a former Camping World salesman.
Danasia Elder, 34, was the other flight attendant, the Charlotte Observer reported. Elder's brother-in-law has described her as 'very bright, very smart,' adding that 'she was an entrepreneur. This flight attendant thing was kind of like one of her dreams she wanted to do.' Elder is survived by her husband and two children.
Doug Zeghibe, the CEO of Skating Club of Boston, said in a briefing that, 'to the best of our knowledge,' 14 members of the figure skating community were passengers in the jet. The 14 were returning from a development camp held in Wichita, and six of those were members of the skating club—two coaches, two teenage athletes, and the athletes' moms.
The coaches, Zeghibe said, were former World champions and married couple Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov. The Russia-born couple won the pairs title at the 1994 World Figure Skating Championships in Chiba, Japan competing for Moscow, and also competed twice in the Olympics in 1992 and 1994.
According to Radio Free Europe, Naumov, 55, and Shishkova, 52, moved to Connecticut in 1998 and began coaching there. They are survived by their son, Maxim, who was also a skater in the club, but was not on the fatal flight, Zeghibe said.
Among the other members of the Skating Club of Boston aboard the plane were aspiring skater Spencer Lane and his mom Christine. Zeghibe described Lane, about 16, as a 'crazy kid, highly talented' who 'has not been skating that long and was rocketing to the top of the sport.' According to PEOPLE, Lane, who previously studied in Barrington High School in Rhode Island, announced in 2022 his plans to train to become an ice skater to compete in the Olympics. His mother Christine joined him in the Wichita camp.
A statement from the Lane family reads: 'Christine exuded creativity throughout her life, using her formal graphic design training as a jumping-off point for seemingly endless creative pursuits across areas such as photography, quilting, knitting, and more. She brought even greater passion to her role as a mother to Spencer and his brother Milo. She was also a lover of animals, and we lost track of how many dogs she helped place in loving adoptive homes.'
Jinna Han and her mother Jin, of Mansfield, Mass. were also among the six Skating Club of Boston members aboard American Eagle flight 5342. Jinna, 13, was 'a wonderful kid,' according to Zeghibe. Jimmy Ma, who placed 5th in the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, described the teenage Han and Lane as "the next generation of us,' according to CBS News.
The wife of Alexandr Kirsanov, who coached two young figure skaters aboard American Airlines Flight 5342, confirmed his death to ABC News. "I lost everything. I lost my husband. I lost my students. I lost my friends," Natalya Gudin, Kirsanov's wife, said.
Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.) also mentioned in a post on X that one of his constituents, Inna Volyanskaya, a coach at the Washington Figure Skating Club, was also aboard the flight. TASS earlier reported that Volyanskaya was a bronze medalist at the 1980 USSR Championships.
Many of those believed to have died were young skating talents. The New York Times also reported on the deaths of Cory Haynos, from North Virginia, who was only 16 in December when he completed one of figure skating's hardest jumps. Haynos had died with his father and mother, Roger and Stephanie. 'Roger and his wife died flying home with their son from the US Ice Skating Championships in Kansas,' Roger's cousin, Matthew Alan LaRaviere, said in a statement posted on social media. 'Cory was an amazing skater with a very bright future with the US Skating Team.'
The same New York Times report also mentioned Eddie Zhou, Haynos' training friend, was also on the flight. The Times also cited neighbors and co-workers who said that Zhou's parents also died.
The Times also mentioned Brielle Beyer and her mother Justyna Magdalena Beyer, 42, as passengers of flight 5342. According to the Kansas City Star, Brielle, a member of the Skating Club of Northern Virginia. turned 12 about two weeks before the crash.
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) in a statement confirmed the deaths of young ice-skating duo Sean Kay and Angela Yang, whom Kirsanov coached.
PEOPLE reported that figure-skating sisters Everly and Alydia Livingston, aged 14 and 11, were also on the flight.
NBC affiliate in Tampa WFLA reported that Olivia Ter, a 12-year-old figure skater from Maryland, was also among those figure skaters who died in the crash, based on the Department of Parks and Recreation in Prince George's County's confirmation. Ter was returning home from the development camp in Wichita. 'Olivia not only excelled in figure skating programs but inspired others through her talent, determination and sportsmanship,' Prince George's County Parks and Recreation said in a statement published by CBS News. 'Her passion for the sport and positive influence on her peers and coaches will not be forgotten.'
The United Association, a Maryland-based organization representing approximately 384,000 plumbers and service technicians in the U.S. and Canada, issued a statement saying that five of its members were also on the PSA Airlines-operated flight, though their names were not released. Four of the five were members of UA Steamfitters Local 602, according to the statement.
The New York Times reported that Michael Stovall and Jesse Pitcher were also on board the plane. Stovall had flown with at least six of his friends from a hunting trip, his wife told the Times, and was a steamfitter by trade, though it is unclear if Stovall was among those UA Steamfitters members. Pitcher, according to his father, was the owner of a plumbing business.
CBS News reported that 26-year-old Asra Hussain Raza, who had recently relocated to Washington, D.C., for a consulting job, was aboard flight 5342 to head home after a work trip, per her father-in-law Hashim Raza. Raza was said to be a graduate of the University of Indiana and Columbia University.
On X, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont extended his condolences to Casey Crafton, saying, 'Salem has lost a dedicated father, husband, and community member.' NBC Connecticut reported that Crafton is a father of three and a youth soccer coach. The Montville Youth Soccer Club described Crafton as a 'a valued volunteer… who helped to enrich the lives of all those that he came in contact with.'
The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that Elizabeth Keys, a 33-year-old attorney at Wilkinson Stekloff LPP in Washington D.C., was also one of the passengers on the flight. Keys had been flying back to D.C. for a work trip, according to her partner David Seidman, and died on her birthday.
Howard University Professor Kiah Duggins was also among those killed in the plane-helicopter collision. The university issued a statement on social media: 'Professor Duggins was set to begin a new chapter as a professor at Howard University School of Law this fall. As a civil rights lawyer, she dedicated her career to fighting against unconstitutional policing and unjust money bail practices in Tennessee, Texas and Washington, D.C. We ask for privacy and respect for Professor Duggins' family, students, and colleagues during this difficult time.'
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also confirmed that two Chinese nationals were also passengers on the plane. The ministry had asked the U.S. to 'promptly report the progress of the search and rescue, find out the cause of the accident as soon as possible, and properly handle the follow-up.'
The Philippine National Police also confirmed that PCol. Pergentino Malabed, chief of the supply management division, was on the flight. In a statement, Philippine police said Malabed was on official travel when the crash occurred. 'His untimely passing is a profound loss to the PNP, where he served with honor, integrity, and dedication throughout his career,' the statement read.
Sarah Lee Best, also a lawyer at the Wilkinson Stekloff LPP in Washington D.C., was on the plane. Daniel Solomon, her husband of ten years, described her to the Washington Post as a hard worker who was generous with kind gestures. 'I just can't honestly imagine going through the rest of my life without her,' Solomon told the Post. 'She really touched the lives of anybody who got to know her.'
With additional reporting by Simmone Shah
Contact us at [e-mail].