Nearly half of the passengers on the plane that fatally collided with a military helicopter last week were members of the figure skating community, U.S. Figure Skating said in a statement Monday.
The national governing body confirmed that 28 members of its community were on board American Airlines 5342 on Wednesday night, returning home from a national development camp in Wichita, Kansas. Authorities have said the plane was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members, none of whom survived.
‘Those whom we lost dedicated their lives to perfecting the sport of figure skating, many with the goal of one day becoming Olympians. We will never forget them,’ interim chief executive officer Samuel Auxier said in a statement. ‘May their passion and excellence inspire us and give us strength in the days ahead. For now, our hearts are heavy with sorrow, and we stand with their families and friends as we grieve this unspeakable loss. ’
In a tribute video posted on social media, U.S. Figure Skating identified 11 skaters − all between the ages of 11 and 16 − as being among the victims. Four coaches also died in the collision, including married couple Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, who won the 1994 pairs world championship with Russia.
The other 13 members of the figure skating community on board the flight were family members.
U.S. Figure Skating said it has established a fund to support families directly impacted by the tragedy. It will also host a tribute at Capital One Arena in Washington on March 2.
Separately, some victims’ friends and family members have created GoFundMe pages to assist loved ones. As of Monday morning, those pages had raised more than $500,000 collectively for the families of the figure skaters, coaches and parents who died in the collision.
The fatal incident occurred Wednesday night, when the small passenger plane collided with a military helicopter over a stretch of the Potomac River near Reagan Washington National Airport. Authorities have yet to determine the cause of the collision, though the National Transportation Safety Board said over the weekend that the helicopter might have been flying above the maximum altitude for its route while the passenger plane was approaching to land.
The figure skaters, coaches and parents aboard the flight had just attended a three-day national development camp in Wichita, designed to expose some of the country’s top junior and novice skaters to high-performance coaching. The camp came immediately after the conclusion of the 2025 national championships, also held in Wichita.
Those on board the plane were part of a handful of figure skating clubs along the East Coast, specifically in the Washington area, Boston and Delaware. According to U.S. Figure Skating, the skaters lost in the collision were:
Franco Aparicio, 14 (Washington Figure Skating Club)
Brielle Beyer, 12 (Skating Club of Northern Virginia)
Jinna Han, 13 (Skating Club of Boston)
Cory Haynos, 15 (Skating Club of Northern Virginia)
Sean Kay, 11 (University of Delaware Figure Skating Club)
Spencer Lane, 16 (Skating Club of Boston)
Alydia Livingston, 11 (Washington Figure Skating Club)
Everly Livingston, 14 (Washington Figure Skating Club)
Olivia Eve Ter, 12 (Ion Figure Skating Club)
Angela Yang, 11 (University of Delaware Figure Skating Club)
Edward Zhou, 16 (Skating Club of Northern Virginia)
Delaware-based coach Alexandr Kirsanov and Washington-based coach Inna Volyanskaya were among coaches on board the plane, in addition to Naumov and Shishkova, who coached at the Skating Club of Boston.
The fatal collision, which was the deadliest aviation disaster in more than two decades, has devastated the figure skating community, a tight-knit and at times insular world of current and former athletes and coaches. Many retired and veteran skaters know Naumov and Shishkova from their time as pairs skaters in the 1990s, while many younger skaters competed alongside the novices who were on board the plane.
“We’re all grieving this,’ 1968 Olympic gold medalist Peggy Fleming told USA TODAY Sports, ‘on all kinds of levels.’
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is set to remove wreckage from the Potomac River this week, while the NTSB investigation into the midair collision is ongoing. A preliminary report is expected to be released within 30 days.
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Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on social media @tomschad.bsky.social.