U.S. Figure Skating confirms that athletes, coaches, and family members were on American Airlines Flight 5342 that crashed in D.C.

[Karen-W]

That interview was so sad to watch. It must have taken so much to get through it. Misha is a rock.

I cannot imagine what all of they must be feeling and going through right now. The bravery to come out and speak with the media is admirable. I am marveling at how adeptly all 4 (Ilia, Misha, Alisa & Jimmy) are handling the questions when they're clearly reeling.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

Jake must have gotten a correction in his ear piece because late in the interview he started pronouncing Ilia’s first name correctly.

At the end he says both names correctly, so I think he was corrected multiple times. LOL

 

[Sylvia]

Barrington [Rhode Island] man remembers son, wife who were killed in DC air collision (2-min. video is embedded):

https://www.wpri.com/news/local-news/rhode-island-teen-was-on-plane-that-collided-with-military-helicopter/

Douglas Lane told 12 News that he and his wife Christine adopted their two sons, Spencer and Milo, from South Korea.
He described Spencer, who was their oldest son, as a “force of nature.”
“Whether he was in his home club in Boston, [Spencer] was just loved by everyone,” Douglas explained. “From adults running the club to smaller skaters, to the people that are competing for a shot at the Olympics, they all adored him.”

Douglas also said his wife was a beautiful, creative person who had many different talents including graphic design and
He sent the following statement to 12 News Thursday evening:
“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. 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.
Spencer can only be described as a force of nature. You simply could not stop him if he decided he wanted to do something. There is no better example of this than his remarkable skating journey, which we are heartbroken to see end too soon. He truly loved it, and his ascent from basic Learn to Skate classes to U.S. Figure Skating’s National Development Team in just a few short years was unprecedented. We are so grateful that his last week was filled with joy and surrounded by his beloved Skating Club of Boston and the U.S. Figure Skating family.
We are also hurting so much from the loss of Spencer’s talented and kind coaches, Genia and Vadim, and all of the wonderful friends Christine and Spencer were sharing their journey with.“

The group was returning from the National Development Camp which which took place after the U.S. Championships in Kansas and was scheduled to board a connecting from from Reagan to Boston on Wednesday night.
Lane posted an Instagram story Wednesday night of a photo of the plane on the runway at Wichita Airport in Kansas before it took off.
“ICT -> DCA,” read the post, which are the codes for Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington D.C.
In a separate post, Lane talked about his professional accomplishment, saying, “NDC!! I am so happy to have qualified for national development camp earlier in November, it has been my goal almost ever since I became aware that it was a thing. I learned so much new information that i can apply to my everyday life, and met so many amazing people!”

ETA - family photo that's included in the article:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1885067749518373060

 

[Karen-W]

At the end he says both names correctly, so I think he was corrected multiple times. LOL

That's what I was thinking, but it was so appalling the way he kept mispronouncing what shouldn't be that hard of a name to pronounce, especially given that Ilia's not exactly an unknown media quantity.

 

[Karen-W]

Anderson Cooper will talk about the skating sisters from the Washington FSC, Everly and Alydia Livingston, soon on CNN.

Coming up after the current commercial break per Anderson.

 

[livetoskate]

That's what I was thinking, but it was so appalling the way he kept mispronouncing what shouldn't be that hard of a name to pronounce, especially given that Ilia's not exactly an unknown media quantity.

It was ridiculous that he was calling Ilia "Aaliyah." Ilia was too polite to correct him.

 

[Sylvia]

Anderson Cooper will talk about the skating sisters from the Washington FSC, Everly (14), and Alydia (11) Livingston, soon on CNN.

Their parents, Peter and Donna, also were on the plane with them. A friend of the family's, Kim Urban, is talking to Cooper now. Urban's 2 daughters skated with the Livingston girls at the Ashburn (VA) ice House.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

That's what I was thinking, but it was so appalling the way he kept mispronouncing what shouldn't be that hard of a name to pronounce, especially given that Ilia's not exactly an unknown media quantity.

I kind of thought the same thing as I was watching it. I’m like he’s mispronouncing his first and last name.

 

[HeatherC]

I am so gutted by this news. I went to bed hoping that no US skaters or coaches were on that flight and woke up to hearing that there were several of them were on it including Maxim's parents (who I just saw in Wichita). I spent most of the day trying to keep my emotions in check at work, which was challenging as the news was unfolding all day, and now that I'm alone at home, I was finally able to have a really good cry over everything. Count me as another person also struggling to find words because my emotions are definitely all over the place right now, especially having seen most of these people in Wichita not all that long ago in the arena. Sending love, comfort, and prayers to all of the victims families and loved ones as well as to my fellow figure skating fans who are also trying to digest this tragic news.

BTW-I had five friends all check in with me on social media this morning to see if I was okay after hearing the news about the crash (one was scared that I was on the flight....) which was very sweet of them but it also made me cry because I don't get to talk to those friends very often and yet they can still tell just from my social media presence how much figure skating means to me.

 

[Badams]

I appreciate the write-ups that Dave Lease has put up about each one of these kids.

 

[flyingsit]

Tommy Steenberg just posted this on Facebook:

Franco Aparicio was one of the first skaters that I ever head coached, and I taught him and his sister, Isabella, from their first day of learn to skate until I relocated to Chicago in 2019. I was tickled with the progress he made year after year since then under Inna Volyanskaya and was delighted to see and hug both of them last week in Wichita. I am devastated to hear that Franco, his father (Luciano), and Inna were on flight AA 5342.​

Inna was one of the first coaches to actively support my choreography back during my college years, and she provided me with many of my early choreographic opportunities. I am sending love to her daughter, Masha, a dear friend of mine since childhood.​

I am sending love to the Aparicio Family.​

I am also sending love to my former student, Emily Haynos, who lost her younger brother, Cory, and both of her parents, Stephanie and Roger.​

I am sending love to all of the skaters, parents, coaches, families, and fans in our community. Today is an immeasurable loss for us all.​

 

[FSWer]

I was watching The Source on CNN. just now, and Kaitlyn Collins was interviewing both Adam Blake from the Skating Club of Boston and Gold Medalist Sarah Hughes. Who both were really shocked.

 

[marshallpond]

I am also sending love to my former student, Emily Haynos, who lost her younger brother, Cory, and both of her parents, Stephanie and Roger.

My heart goes out to Emily. I called her when I couldn't get hold of Stephanie or Roger, and her cries were just heartbreaking. She has not arrived in VA yet but will be traveling soon.

Sam Auxier said that USFS is creating a relief fund and it should be up and running in the next 12 hours. This will be for the surviving families.

 

[oleada]

This article is hearbreaking

The Skater Who Stuck a Triple Axel Before Boarding the Flight

Cory Haynos was among several budding figure-skating stars who died in the plane crash near Reagan National Airport.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Sylvia]

Tommy Steenberg just posted this on Facebook:
Franco Aparicio was one of the first skaters that I ever head coached, and I taught him and his sister, Isabella, from their first day of learn to skate until I relocated to Chicago in 2019. I was tickled with the progress he made year after year since then under Inna Volyanskaya and was delighted to see and hug both of them last week in Wichita. I am devastated to hear that Franco, his father (Luciano), and Inna were on flight AA 5342.

Inna was one of the first coaches to actively support my choreography back during my college years, and she provided me with many of my early choreographic opportunities. I am sending love to her daughter, Masha, a dear friend of mine since childhood.

I am sending love to the Aparicio Family.

I am also sending love to my former student, Emily Haynos, who lost her younger brother, Cory, and both of her parents, Stephanie and Roger.

I am sending love to all of the skaters, parents, coaches, families, and fans in our community. Today is an immeasurable loss for us all.

Also cross-posted on Steenberg's Instagram that includes his photo with a young Franco almost 7 years ago:

Tommy Steenberg on Instagram: "Franco Aparicio was one of the first skaters that I ever head coached, and I taught him and his sister, Isabella, from their first day of learn to skate until I relocated to Chicago in 2019. I was tickled with the progr

244 likes, 34 comments - tommysteenberg on January 30, 2025: "Franco Aparicio was one of the first skaters that I ever head coached, and I taught him and his sister, Isabella, from their first day of learn to skate until I relocated to Chicago in 2019. I was tickled with the progress he made...

www.instagram.com

 

[Sylvia]

Alisa Efimova's English is quite good - she and Misha M. spoke with Abby Phillip about the 2 kids and Shishkova/Naumov - full 5-min. video is on CNN's NewsNight page: https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/30/us/video/skaters-react-to-deadly-plane-crash

 

[livetoskate]

This article is hearbreaking

The Skater Who Stuck a Triple Axel Before Boarding the Flight

Cory Haynos was among several budding figure-skating stars who died in the plane crash near Reagan National Airport.

www.nytimes.com

Mark Mitchell's quotes end the article:

At the camp in Wichita, it was clear how far Haynos had come as a skater. Mitchell, the coach, said he hoped someone caught one particular moment on camera — Haynos and Zhou performing an impromptu routine on the ice to the song “APT.” by Bruno Mars and Rosé blasting in the arena. Other skaters and parents surrounded them, roaring with laughter and cheers.

“That’s how I remember those kids,” Mitchell said. “And that’s how I will always remember them.”

 

[livetoskate]

Elena Betchke was interviewed in this article in the local Raleigh, North Carolina news.

'It's like a dream': NC figure skating coaches grapple with emotions following deadly plane crash

On the ice, figure skaters can conquer any challenge. But many of them are still trying to figure out how to overcome this one: a plane crash in which President Donald Trump said there are no survivors.

www.wral.com

 

[sk8girl]

Canadian coverage, with brief comments from Brian Orser near the end...

CTV National News: Young figure skaters among the victims

CTV National News: Young figure skaters among the victims

Of the 64 people on American Airlines Flight 5342, 14 were figure skaters returning from a national development camp. Heather Wright has the details.

www.ctvnews.ca

 

[YukiNieve]

You can see the helicopter route map/chart published by the FAA and it is amazing to see many routes directly around DCA. (Reagan National Airport) (the one on page 3 is easiest to view).

https://aeronav.faa.gov/visual/09-05-2024/PDFs/Balt-Wash_Heli.pdf

Unrelated, but I was watching a music video and an interview with then 10-year-old Jinna Han in 2022 popped up as a recommendation.
- What year are we watching you at the Olympics?
- Ah...probably 2032?

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

 

[YukiNieve]

At the camp in Wichita, it was clear how far Haynos had come as a skater. Mitchell, the coach, said he hoped someone caught one particular moment on camera — Haynos and Zhou performing an impromptu routine on the ice to the song “APT.” by Bruno Mars and Rosé blasting in the arena. Other skaters and parents surrounded them, roaring with laughter and cheers.

“That’s how I remember those kids,” Mitchell said. “And that’s how I will always remember them.”

Ashley Cain's IG post shows the routine:

Ashley Cain on Instagram: "I will cherish this video for forever. I wanted to share this to show a beautiful moment we had with Eddie Zhou and Franco Aparicio at camp. They are #37 and #23. At the end of a very long day for these kids we had the oppo

icegirlash on January 30, 2025: "I will cherish this video for forever. I wanted to share this to show a beautiful moment we had with Eddie Zhou and Franco Aparicio at camp. They are #37 and #23. At the end of a very long day for these kids we had the opportunity to do an interpretive class...

www.instagram.com

 

[ballettmaus]

I'm reading the tributes on the Instagram page of The Skaing Lesson and what really gets to me is how many families have been torn apart. Just heartbreaking.

 

[Johnny_Fever]

You can see the helicopter route map/chart published by the FAA and it is amazing to see many routes directly around DCA. (Reagan National Airport) (the one on page 3 is easiest to view).

https://aeronav.faa.gov/visual/09-05-2024/PDFs/Balt-Wash_Heli.pdf

Unrelated, but I was watching a music video and an interview with then 10-year-old Jinna Han in 2022 popped up as a recommendation.
- What year are we watching you at the Olympics?
- Ah...probably 2032?

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

Jaun Browne is an air accident YouTuber (and airline pilot). He stated that, according to published routes, helicopters are required to remain below 200 feet in that area, to stay below the air traffic into DCA. The collision occurred at 400 feet.

 

[NinjaTurtles]

This has been such a tragedy; a real dark cloud on the region. All of us friends and families of WFSC, SkateQuest, Ashburn Ice House, etc. are reeling.

I live in Alexandria not far from DCA. I used to daily commute by bike along the Potomac through gravelly point and experience the short runway landings. Between Ft Belvoir, Quantico, Langley, Pentagon, and Andrews there are always a variety of military helicopters in flight around this part of Northern VA. They do fly low, but you get used to it. In some ways I’m surprised it hasn’t happened sooner, in other ways I’m shocked given the level of activity and lack of problems…it gave some confidence in it being controlled.

 

[Carolla5501]

Just a note keep in mind that a lot of what you’re going to hear about causes and sources, etc. right now is gossip. The NTSB is notoriously closed mouth early on, they don’t issue speculation and there’s a good reason for that. There’s at least one post in this thread about the cause that is not supported just by what you and I can hear from the information that has been released so realize that it’s going be a while before you have a reason. I know people want to know why because it makes it easier for us to understand but it’s unlikely we will actually know that incredibly quick. They will want to retrieve all of the black boxes and another monitoring equipment from both aircraft, and that comes after the incredibly sad retrieval of the victims.

And I know every media source has pulled in a pilot or other talking head to explain what happened, but the truth is some of them are better than others. And none of them have all the information.

 

[Karen-W]

Also, we do have a thread in Off the Beaten Track where we're discussing the potential causes for the crash. I think we're trying to keep this thread more general about the skating community affected.

Plane and Blackhawk helicopter crash in Washington DC

Breaking news apparently a regional AA jet from Wichita, KS has collided with a Blackhawk helicopter and both are in the Potomic. The jet was attempting to land at Reagan International. This just happened and no information on fatalities as there is a major rescue going on. There is footage...

www.fsuniverse.net

 

[Frau Muller]

Evgenia Shishtova’s sister, Sheshgina, was a sister of the 1991 bailen.

2 skaters & 1 parent not yet mentioned in this thread:

Brielle Beyer (SC of Northern Virginia) - Easterns Juvenile Girls bronze medalist
Brielle's mother, Justyna Magdalena
Cory Haynos (SC of Northern Virginia) - Easterns Intermediate Men's bronze medalist
ETA (post #145 below):

Source link with photos: https://x.com/goldenskate/status/1885057466586505410
Alternative link:

Golden Skate on Instagram: "The Golden Skate community joins the figure skating world in expressing our shock and deepest sympathies to the families, friends, and loved ones of the coaches, athletes, and family members who tragically lost their lives

22K likes, 227 comments - goldsk8 on January 30, 2025: "The Golden Skate community joins the figure skating world in expressing our shock and deepest sympathies to the families, friends, and loved ones of the coaches, athletes, and family members who tragically lost their lives on American Eagle...

www.instagram.com

Mentioned earlier in this thread (8 skaters, 2 mothers, 3 coaches) as having been on AA #534:

Vadim Naumov (Coach – Skating Club of Boston)
Evgenia Shishkova (Coach – Skating Club of Boston)
Spencer Lane (SC of Boston) - Easterns Intermediate Men's champion, coached by Shishkova & Naumov
Christine Lane, mother of Spencer Lane
Jinna Han (SC of Boston) - Easterns Novice Women's pewter medalist [coached, AFAIK, by Letov & Ganicheva who were already home]
Jin Han, mother of Jinna Han
Edward Zhou (SC of Northern Virginia), Easterns Novice Men's pewter medalist
Everly Livingston (Washington FSC), Easterns Intermediate Women's pewter medalist
Alydia Livingston (Washington FSC), Everly's younger sister
Franco Aparicio (Washington FSC), Easterns Intermediate Men's pewter medalist
Sean Kay (Univ. of Delaware FSC)
Angela Yang (Univ. of Delaware FSC) - Yang/Kay won the Juvenile Dance gold medal at the Ice Dance Final at Mids in Nov. 2024
Alexandr (Sasha) Kirsanov - coach of Yang/Kay at the University of Delaware FSC
Inna Volyanskaya - coach of Aparicio and Everly Livingston at Washington FSC (ETA that Volyanskaya's best known skater is 14-year-old Sofia Bezkorovainaya who placed 8th in the Junior Women's event at Wichita Nationals - she was not on the plane)

Oh!!! Sonia B. also died???

 

[Karen-W]

Oh!!! Sonia B. also died???

No, she did not. Read the last line of the post you quoted.

 

[Frau Muller]

No, she did not. Read the last line of the post you quoted.

So it in the indi talk.

 

[Simone411]

My local news channel on KTBS 3 out of Shreveport had interviewed Oksana Baiul regarding the plane crash. There's not a video yet from KTBS.com. Oksana was devastated regarding all the skaters including friends, Shishkova and Naumov. It will probably be tomorrow when it shows up on the website. KTBS does have a video from Oksana, however.

From KTBS News Reels | Facebook

84K views · 1.1K reactions | Olympic figure skating gold medalists and Shreveport resident Oksana Baiul shares an emotional reaction to the D.C. plane crash. #planecrash #DC #news #breaking #washingtondc | KTBS 3 News

Olympic figure skating gold medalists and Shreveport resident Oksana Baiul shares an emotional reaction to the D.C. plane crash. #planecrash #DC #news #breaking #washingtondc.

www.facebook.com

ETA: You do have to sign into Facebook to see it.