American Airlines Flight Crashes with International Figure Skaters Onboard

In honour of the victims of the recent American Airlines collision. May they rest in peace.

Megan Grimston
2nd February 2025
Image: Instagram @goldensk8

Content Warning: This article contains references to death.

An American Airlines regional jet collided mid-air with an Army helicopter above the Potomac River, Washington DC during the final hours of Wednesday 29th January. An active investigation into the incident has recovered 19 bodies, with the belief that all 67 passengers onboard are deceased. Among the victims of the crash are members of the figure skating world, notably members of the US and Russian community.

"U.S. Figure Skating can confirm that several members of our skating community were sadly aboard American Airlines Flight 5342, which collided with a helicopter yesterday evening in Washington, D.C." US Figure Skating expressed in a statement regarding the incident. The board did not name any of its skaters, expressing "We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims' families closely in our hearts." The skaters apart of the US group were returning from a developmental camp, added as an extension to the US National Championships across the earlier weekend. The Russian skating federation also expressed their condolences, with two of its most prestigious figure skaters confirmed to be onboard. Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, partners both on and off the ice, who saw victory at the 1994 World Championships were announced by the Kremlin as the first figure skaters identified.

As of Thursday 30th January, an official list of names has been released to the public. Specifically, this is a list of deceased victims who belonged to the figure skating community. Amongst this was 16 year old prodigy Spencer Lane, sisters Everly and Lydia Livingston, Jinna Han described as a cheerful spirit, and the future talent of the sport.

The tragedy has touched all corners of the sport, with Olympic athlete Nancy Kerrigan grieving the loss of her students. "We’ve been through tragedies before as Americans, as people, and we’re strong," she said " I was watching all night (on television) and when you find out you know some of the people on the plane it is an even bigger blow." The sports current frontmen, Team USA's Ilia Malinin and Amber Glenn have taken a lead in creating a collective of resources in memory and support of the victims across their social media.

As the figure skating community comes together with the rest of the world to mourn, the souls of the skaters lost amongst the incident will change the sport forever. While the investigation into the remaining passengers is still ongoing, the skating community will continue to protect each other; sharing hotline phone numbers, helplines, and honouring the lives of the sports children.

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