Latest news with #DonnaSmojiceLivingston
CBS News
31-01-2025
- General
- CBS News
IUP graduate and her family killed in D.C. plane crash
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- An Indiana University of Pennsylvania graduate, her husband and their two daughters were among those killed when an American Airlines plane and Army Black Hawk helicopter collided midair in D.C. on Wednesday night. In a statement, IUP Assistant Vice President for University Advancement Jennifer Dunsmore said the school shares in the nation's grief and heartbreak over the tragedy that killed 67 people. "It touches us very personally, as this loss includes members of the IUP family, Donna Smojice Livingston, her husband, and their two daughters," Dunsmore said. "As an IUP community, we join the Livingstons' family and friends in mourning their passing and all the lives lost in this accident." Livingston used to live in Johnstown, where most of her family still resides, CBS affiliate WTAJ reported, citing sources. Her husband Peter and 14-year-old Everly and 11-year-old Alydia were also killed, WTAJ said. Family friend Cassandra Atkins told WTAJ she designed several skating outfits for the girls, and while they had never met in person, she kept up with the Livingstons on a regular basis. "Donna was just like the most perfect mom," Atkins said. "She really was. Like I said before, those girls were everything to her, the center of her whole universe." Crash rocks western Pennsylvania figure skating community Sixty passengers and four crew were on board the American Airlines plane that collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter carrying three soldiers near the Reagan National Airport on Wednesday night. Officials said everyone on both aircraft died. Top figure skaters from the United States and Russia were on board American Eagle Flight 5342, traveling back from a national development camp in Wichita, Kansas. Sixteen-year-old Sara Sebring, who trains at the ice rink at Robert Morris University, says she personally knew six of the figure skaters who died in the crash. She said she competed against some and trained with others. She said she was feeling "sadness for my friends that I know have lost people, my friends that have lost coaches, for family, just deep sorrow." Rachel Lane-McCarthy said she was on her way to teach lessons at the rink Thursday morning when she heard the news. She said she personally knew one of the coaches who died. "I gave my skaters a lot of hugs today," she said. "Let them cry. I cried with them. I don't know how anyone is gonna deal with this, I mean we're just gonna be strong for each other." In 1961, the entire U.S. figure skating team was killed in a plane crash in Belgium while on their way to the world figure skating championships. Pittsburgher Bob Mock, a Professional Skaters Association Hall of Fame coach and former U.S. Figure Skating board member, said that crash devastated the sport. He believes figure skating is facing a similar situation now. "I think that if everybody could just say a prayer for the skating community right now, I think that would be very important," he said.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Westmont native and her family among passengers on jet that crashed in D.C. area
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – A woman originally from the Johnstown area, her husband and their two young daughters were among the passengers on a jet that crashed Wednesday night near Washington, D.C., a family member said Thursday. Donna Smojice Livingston, formerly of Johnstown; her husband, Peter Livingston; and their daughters Everly, 14, and Alydia, 11, were aboard the American Eagle flight that collided with an Army helicopter while approaching Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, sending the two aircraft into the Potomac River. Livingston sisters Alydia Livingston (left) and Everly Livingston The crash was the country's worst aviation disaster in a generation, killing all 67 people aboard the two aircraft, The Associated Press reported. Mark Smojice, president of Advanced Office Systems in Johnstown, confirmed in a brief phone call with The Tribune-Democrat Thursday that his sister and her family were on the plane. He said he called an American Airlines 800 number issued on a news feed for relatives of passengers and received confirmation that they were on the plane. He spoke to The Tribune-Democrat after traveling to inform his mother, who lives in Richland Township. Donna Smojice Livingston Donna Smojice Livingston Robert Heffelfinger, of Richland Township, said the Smojice family is like part of his family. Heffelfinger is the vice president of Advanced Office Systems, a company started by Mark Smojice's father-in law. 'Donna was a young and wonderful person,' he said. 'She and her husband, Peter, had two children who were amazing ice skaters.' Donna Smojice Livingston grew up on Wayne Street in Westmont Borough and was a 1995 Westmont Hilltop High School graduate. The Livingstons raised their children in Virginia; Peter Livingston was from the Richmond, Virginia, area, Heffelfinger said. Teen figure skaters and their coaches, group of hunters and students among victims of air crash The victims of a crash between an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter included teen figure skaters returning from a national meet with their mothers and coaches. Several of the crash victims, including the Livingston girls and their parents, were coming back from a national development camp for promising young skaters held after the U.S. Figure Skating Championships that ended Sunday in Wichita, Kansas. That camp is for the most elite group of young people on track to be among the next generation of high-level skaters, said Alexis Capouellez, president of the Skating Club of Johnstown. Peter Livingston Peter Livingston Capouellez said the Livingston family would come to Johnstown annually to visit family, and the girls would skate with the club at 1st Summit Arena @ Cambria County War Memorial in Johnstown or the North Central Recreation Center in Ebensburg whenever they could. 'I just feel deeply saddened for all families involved in the tragedy,' Capouellez said.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Johnstown native, her husband, 2 kids on board airplane that crashed into helicopter in D.C.
A woman from Johnstown, along with her husband and two kids, were on board the airplane that crashed into a helicopter while trying to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport near D.C. Wednesday. NBC affiliate WJAC reports family members confirmed Donna Smojice Livingston, her husband Peter and her two daughters, Everly, 14, and Alydia, 11, were among the 64 people on board American Airlines Flight 5342. >> Army helicopter, plane crash: What we know about the victims Her family told WJAC that Donna moved to Virginia after college where she met Peter, who is from Richmond. At least 28 bodies were pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River after an American Airlines jet carrying 64 passengers and four crew members collided with an Army helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, officials said Thursday. Officials did not believe there were any survivors, which would make it the deadliest U.S. air crash in nearly 24 years. Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
