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American Airlines confirm 60 passengers and four crew members aboard jet, while US authorities say helicopter on training flight was carrying three soldiers, with US Senator suggesting most if not all killed
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Six members of a figure skating club from Massachusetts, including two teenagers, are among those who died on board the doomed American Airlines flight that crashed into an Army Black Hawk helicopter in Washington, D.C.
The passenger jet carrying 64 people crashed mid-air with the helicopter and plunged into the Potomac River near Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday evening.
All 67 people on board both aircraft that crashed down into the Potomac River are feared dead, Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said at a briefing on Thursday, and at least 28 bodies have now been recovered from the water.
The Skating Club of Boston in Norwood, Massachusetts, confirmed that six of its members were on board the doomed flight, including two skaters, two coaches and two parents.
US Figure Skating said athletes, coaches and family members were returning from the National Development Camp held in conjunction with the US Figure Skating Championships in Kansas.
“We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts,” it said in a statement.
Jack Potter, the president and CEO of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, said first responders were in “rescue mode”, while all flights in and out of Washington, DC’s Ronald Reagan National Airport have been paused until at least 11am on Thursday.
The midair collision occurred as the passenger jet, traveling from Wichita in Kansas, was on approach to land at Reagan. Radio communications between the air traffic control tower and the Black Hawk showed the helicopter crew knew the plane was in the vicinity. Video footage from the nearby Kennedy Center shows two sets of lights consistent with separate aircraft appearing to conjoin in a fireball.
“I have been fully briefed on the terrible accident which just took place at Reagan National Airport,” President Donald Trump said, as the Pentagon announced it was launching an investigation. “May God Bless their souls.”
American Airlines confirmed 60 passengers and four crew members were aboard the jet. The helicopter, on a training flight, was carrying three soldiers, none of whom were senior Army officials, US authorities said.
Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko, who are skating partners, avoided being on the flight with the other skaters, the head of their training school, director of The Ice Academy for World’s Champions Jamal Othman, told The Independent, contradicting reports in Russian media that they were feared to have been on board.
As the search and rescue mission continues, this is what we know about who was on board both aircraft so far.
Doug Zeghibe, executive director of the Skating Club of Boston in Norwood, Massachusetts, confirmed six of its members, including two teenagers, died in the plane crash.
Choking back tears at times, Zeghibe said 16-year-old Spencer Lane and Jinna Han, along with their moms molly Lane and Jin Han, perished on board the flight.
“Spencer, in the best way possible, was a crazy kid,” Zeghibe told a press conference on Thursday morning. “Highly talented, has not been skating that long and has been rocketing to the top of the sport. Very fun, very cerebral.”
“Jinna, just a wonderful kid, wonderful parents. A great athlete, great competitor. Loved by all,” he said.
Zeghibe said their moms were “dedicated” and always “made sacrifices.”
Ice skating coach Evgenia Shishkova and her husband Vadim Naumov, both former figure skating world champions, were on board the plane.
They were also members of the Skate Club of Boston, joining the staff in 2017.
The couple won the world championships in pairs figure skating in 1994 and have reportedly lived in the US since at least 1998, where they trained young ice skaters.
The couple’s son Maxim, who competed for the US in singles, was not on the flight despite earlier reports that he was.
Zeghibe confirmed that Maxim departed Wichita on Monday after competing on Sunday.
Inna Volyanskaya, a former skater who competed for the Soviet Union, is also reported to have been on board the plane, TASS said.
She is a coach at the Washington figure skating club, according to its website.
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