High determine skaters and their coaches have been among the many 64 individuals aboard an American Airways flight that crashed right into a U.S. Military helicopter on Wednesday night time close to Washington, D.C.
By early Thursday, at the least 28 our bodies had been pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River as emergency crews shifted their mission from rescue to restoration.
“We do not imagine there are any survivors,” stated John Donnelly, the hearth chief within the nation’s capital.
The airplane was carrying 60 passengers and 4 crew members because it ready to land at Ronald Reagan Nationwide Airport. The Black Hawk helicopter had three individuals aboard.
The jet was discovered upside-down in at the least three sections in waist-deep water. It’s the first main industrial airline crash on U.S. soil since Feb. 12, 2009, when 50 individuals died close to Buffalo, N.Y.
U.S. Determine Skating issued a press release early Thursday morning.
“U.S. Determine Skating can affirm that a number of members of our skating group have been sadly aboard American Airways Flight 5342, which collided with a helicopter yesterday night in Washington, D.C. These athletes, coaches, and relations have been returning house from the Nationwide Growth Camp held along with the U.S. Determine Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas.
“We’re devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and maintain the victims’ households intently in our hearts. We’ll proceed to watch the state of affairs and can launch extra data because it turns into obtainable.”
The U.S. Determine Skating Championships ran from Jan. 20 via Sunday, although many skaters remained afterward for the superior coaching camp.
The Worldwide Skating Union, the game’s governing physique, issued a press release stating it was “deeply shocked” by the crash.
“Our ideas are with everybody affected by this tragedy,” the group stated. “Determine skating is greater than a sport — it is a close-knit household — and we stand collectively. We stay in shut contact with U.S. Determine Skating and supply our full help throughout this extremely tough time.”
The information of the crash rapidly unfold all through the skating group.
“praying for all these on the flight from wichita to dc,” U.S. pairs skater Luke Wang, a 20-year-old from the Baltimore space, posted to X. “among the many passengers have been skaters and coaches. completely heartbreaking.”
praying for all these on the flight from wichita to dc. among the many passengers have been skaters and coaches. completely heartbreaking.
— LUKE WANG (@lukeawang) January 30, 2025
Aviation tragedy has touched the U.S. determine skating scene earlier than.
In February 1961, 18 members of the US determine skating group and 14 different members of their touring occasion have been amongst 73 individuals killed when their airplane crashed in Belgium. They have been en path to the World Determine Skating Championships in Prague.
Amongst these killed was 16-year-old Laurence Owen, who simply 4 days earlier had received the North American Determine Skating Championships in Philadelphia and a month after successful the U.S. title. She completed sixth on the 1960 Winter Olympics.
There was no fast phrase on the reason for Wednesday night time’s collision, which occurred below clear circumstances.
“On ultimate strategy into Reagan Nationwide, it collided with a navy plane on an in any other case regular strategy,” American Airways CEO Robert Isom stated. “Presently, we do not know why the navy plane got here into the trail of the … plane.”
–Area Stage Media
