Loved ones describe lives lost in air crash over Potomac

Yahoo

31-01-2025

When American Airlines Flight 5342 and an Army helicopter crashed over the Potomac River on Wednesday night, 67 people died. And stories from heartbroken families and friends are now beginning to paint pictures of them for a grieving nation.
Crash victims included 60 passengers and four crew members on the plane that was just descending to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on a flight that originated in Wichita, Kansas. Among the dead, too, were the three crew members on the Army helicopter, which was on a routine training exercise when they all collided.
Among them were competitive figure skaters, coaches and family members, a group of hunting buddies who'd spent a week together gabbing, a civil rights attorney who'd been with her mother after she had surgery, a helicopter crew chief famous for his friendliness, parents on their way to see their college-student daughter and a flight attendant who loved meeting new people and seeing new places.
Not all of the victims have been publicly identified yet. But here's what we know so far.
The Washington Post reported that at least seven of those on the plane were pals who'd been traipsing through the Kansas woods for a week on a duck hunt.
The hunters included Michael Stovall, of Maryland, who was a plumber. His cousin Shawna Slarb said that 'Mikey' and some of the hunters had been pals since they were boys. She described her cousin as a 'Baltimore Orioles fan and an avid outdoorsman, hunter and snowboarder,' who was married, has a son and enjoyed many friendships, the article said.
The article also identified Jesse Pitcher as among the hunters, quoting his father, Jameson Pitcher. Jesse was 30, owned his own plumbing business and had been married less than a year.
A Maryland plumbers union said four of its members were among the crash victims. It didn't provide names. But not all the hunting buddies from the trip were on the plane. Some of them drove, because they were bringing the guns and dogs with them.
**Jonathan D. Boyd, 40, Alexander Huffman, 34, and Charles McDaniel, 44, were all members of the United Association of Union Plumbers and Pipefitters, per WVTM13. Others in the hunting party who died were identified by USA Today as Tommy Clagett and Steve Johnson.
The New York Times separately reported that the helicopter crew who perished 'was among the Army's most experienced,' all command pilots who were part of the 12th Aviation Battalion based in Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
Army officials say the pilots train there because they fly there, transporting important officials who conduct their business in the District of Columbia. Per the article, 'In many ways, the 12th Aviation Brigade is considered the VIP taxi service of the federal government in Washington.'
The three-person crew consisted of a male pilot, a female pilot and a male staff sergeant. The Army said it would release names after families are notified.
**The male pilot was identified by WVTM13 as Andrew Eaves, a Mississippi native.
Jonathan Koziol, chief of staff at the military branch's aviation directorate, told reporters that 'these are our top pilots,' adding one had more than 1,000 flying hours and the other had 500.
The crew chief was identified by The Washington Post as Ryan O'Hara, 28, from Arlington County, Virginia. 'Married, with a year-old son, he had just texted his dad that a new assignment might bring the family back to his native Georgia. His dad described him to the Post as 'a wonderful kid" who smiled at everyone and loved the Army.
The Deseret News reported Thursday that 14 people from the U.S. figure skating community were on the plane when it crashed and profiled the devastation felt by that community.
Identified members of The Skating Club of Boston community include Spencer Lane, 16, of Barrington, Rhode Island, and his mother Christine Lane; skater Jinna Han, 13, and her mother Jin Han; and married-couple coaches Evgenia Vasilievna Shishkova, 52, and Vadim Naumov, 55.
Christine Lane's father Wayne Conrad, of Easton, Pennsylvania, told People magazine that 'we're still in a state of shock down here. They were greatly appreciated when we had them with us and there were lovely people, creative forces in their own way, Christine in photography and graphic arts and Spencer and creative endeavors as in figure skating competitively.'
The young Lane had only been skating for three years but had become very impressive, according to reports. He was determined to make it to the Olympics and was described by his father, Doug, as 'a force of nature.'
Skating Club of Boston CEO Doug Zeghibe described him affectionately at a press conference Thursday. 'Spencer, in the best way possible, was a crazy kid. Highly talented, like incredibly talented. Has not been skating that long and was rocketing to the top of the sport.'
Jinna Han was another attached to the skating club, described to the Post by her coach there, Olga Ganicheva, as 'sunshine. She could make us smile and love every day.' The article said she and her mom were at the club 10 hours a day, six days a week.
'Jinna loved it because she could perform,' the coach said. 'She could fly. She could jump. She was a star.'
Zeghibe described Jinna's mother, as well. 'Never a discouraging word,' he said. 'Always appreciative, always supportive of not just Jinna, her daughter, but every athlete. Just role model parents in your sport, and you don't always get that.'
People magazine quoted a statement from Doug Lane, Spencer's dad and Christine's husband: 'Our family is devastated by the loss of Christine and Spencer. 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.'
The statement added, '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.'
Shishkova and Naumov were world pairs figure skating champions in 1994, skating for their native Russia. They moved to the U.S. four years later. The Associated Press said their son Maxim, 23, had competed at the U.S. championship in Wichita on Sunday but flew back earlier in the week.
According to Reuters, 'Inna Volyanskaya, a former skater who competed for the Soviet Union, was also reported to have been on board, TASS said. She was a coach at the Washington Figure Skating Club, according to its website.'
The Skating Club of Boston issued a statement quoted in the Reuters article: 'Our sport and this club have suffered a horrible loss with this tragedy. Skating is a tight-knit community where parents and kids come together for 6 or 7 days a week to train and work together.'
Skating coach Alexandr Kirsanov, 46, was also on the flight, along with two young skaters he and his wife Natalya Gudin coached. She didn't go to the development camp. After the crash, the Delaware woman said she 'lost everything. I lost my husband, I lost my students, I lost my friends,' Gudin told ABC News. 'I need my husband back. I need his body back.'
Kirsanov was a professional ice dancer who'd competed for the U.S. and for Russia.
USA Today identified the two skaters as Angela Yang and Sean Kay. Kay reportedly loved to travel and to meet the other competitors. Yang had a passion for ice dance, per the article. She also liked art, travel and video games.
The article said University of Delaware President Dennis Assanis issued a statement on learning that Kirsanov and two of the skaters he coached were on the plane. 'Our hearts go out to the families and friends of all of the victims of this horrible tragedy,' he wrote.
Four members of one family also perished. USA Today reported that Everly, Alydia, Donna and Peter Livingston were dedicated to skating and to each other. Donna Livingston was a Comcast business executive. Her husband Peter was in real estate. Everly, 11, and Alydia, 14, were sisters who began skating when they were toddlers. Peter had also been a skater.
The article said the girls 'competed across the country, both earning several juvenile championships and medals that go along with it. They thrived at both figure and roller skating, mastering different disciplines from solo dancing to freestyling.'
Everly was described as shy, her sister Alydia as a joker who loved to make people laugh.
**Skater Brielle Beyer, 12, and her mom Justyna Beyer, 42, both perished in the crash. The Post reported that Justyna was born in Poland and came as a child to America, where she became an emergency room nurse. When Brielle was a baby, she was treated for cancer and her mom quit her job to care for her.
Andy Beyer, husband of Justyna and father of Brielle, told the Post that his wife kept her favorite traditional treats she'd enjoyed in Poland in the freezer for snacks. 'She was an adventurous traveler who loved family trips with their son Kellen, 6, to Disney World and decorated their house with as many as six Christmas trees for the holidays,' per the article.
Eddie Zhou and Cory Haynos were figure skaters from the Skating Club of Northern Virginia. Franco Aparicio was a figure skater with the Washington Figure Skating Club. Inna Volyanskaya was a coach with that club.
Other skaters, not yet identified publicly, had been linked to The Philadelphia Skating Club.
At least three people on the plane who've been identified were lawyers.
Sarah Lee Best, 33, was an associate at Wilkinson Stekloff, a D.C. area law firm. She and her husband Daniel Solomon were planning a 10th anniversary honeymoon trip to Hawaii, where she was born. He told The Washington Post she was a hard worker who made kind gestures, like an elaborate, romantic Valentine's Day spread she created for him one year.
'We are each other's world,' Solomon said. 'I just can't honestly imagine going through the rest of my life without her. She really touched the lives of anybody who got to know her.'
Kiah Duggins, 30, was a civil rights attorney working for a D.C. nonprofit, Civil Rights Corps. She had flown to Wichita to be with her mom, who was having a surgery. The nonprofit posted on Instagram about the crash and the loss of a beloved colleague.
Liz Keys, 33, was a D.C.-based attorney described by friends in the Post as having a sharp sense of humor. She had been on the sailing team at Tufts University. And she played oboe, saxophone and bassoon.
Her partner, David Seidman, said she died on her birthday.
'She pushed everyone, including me, to be the best version of themselves and take risks,' he added. 'It's hard to imagine the hole that Liz left will ever be filled. She was such a star.'
The New York Times reported that relatives identified three of the four members of the flight crew as pilot Jonathan J. Campos, 34; co-pilot Sam Lilley, 28; and flight attendant Danasia Brown Elder.
The Post reported that Ian Epstein, 53, who loved to travel, was one of the flight crew when the crash occurred. Family and friends described him as a father, stepfather, husband and brother who was 'full of life' in the article.
'But his true love was family.'
'He made flying fun for the passengers on the plane so they didn't get scared,' his ex-wife Debi Epstein told the Charlotte Observer. 'He was always the jokester and just doing the announcements with the twist.'
Campos, 34, was described in USA Today as 'a pilot who wanted to 'soar like a bird.''
He was also a certified scuba diver, had recently tried helicopter skiing and 'lived life to the fullest.'
His aunt said his family had planned a big Caribbean cruise for early February and he was looking forward to it.
Lori Schrock, 56, and Robert 'Bob' Schrock, 58, were on their way to Philadelphia to visit their daughter, Ellie, a junior at Villanova University.
The Post reported that they hailed from Kiowa, Kansas, where they had a farm. And they were traveling with their two cats.
Grace Maxwell, 20, was on her way back to Cedarville University, having just attended her grandfather's funeral. Officials at the university confirmed her death. She was described in its press release as a 'thoughtful, quiet student leader.'
The family of Wendy Jo Shaffer, 35, said she was a wife and mother of two young children. She is described on a GoFundMe page as 'the heart of her family — a loving partner to her husband and a nurturing, joyful mother to her children.'
Asra Hussain-Raza, 26, was described to USA Today by her father-in-law as a Renaissance woman. 'She was brilliant. She was cultured, she was a fashion person, she was a fantastic cook.' More than anything, he added, she was a friend.
'She would call (friends) just to say hello and check on them. She was a very good person,' Hashim Raza said. 'It's devastating that she was only around for 26 years.'
The Chinese Embassy said two citizens from China died in the crash, but didn't identify them, according to the Times.
The Times also reported that Col. Pergentino Malabed Jr., 51, a member of the Philippine national police force, who served as chief of its supply management division, was also on the plane.
Casey Crafton, according to WVTM13, was a volunteer coach with the Montville Youth Soccer Club in Oakdale, Connecticut, who leaves behind a wife and three young sons.
Lindsey (Carter) Fields, 40, was identified by WVTM13 as a former employee of Oklahoma State University, from which she graduated. A story in USA Today said she taught biology at Butler Community College for the last decade.
Per the article, 'Lindsey was a colleague, friend, and educator who dedicated her wisdom and talents to changing students' lives every day. We owe her much gratitude for sharing her light with us and we will forever feel this loss. We send much love and support to her family and friends during this most difficult time,' the school said in an announcement Friday.
This story will be updated.