UPDATE 2/1/2025: Officials have stated the mid-air collision between the U.S. Army helicopter and American Airlines flight 5342 leaves all 67 passengers presumed dead, recovery operations are still underway. D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John A. Donnelly stated during a news conference, that he’s confident that all of the victims from the crash will be recovered.
So far, over 40 of the victims have been recovered.
U.S. Army Blackhawk Crew – Three members on board
- Captain Rebecca Lobach age 28 of North Carolina
- Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, age 39, of Great Mills, Maryland
- Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara, age 28, of Lilburn, Georgia, is believed to be deceased pending positive identification.
American Airlines Flight 5342 Crew – The Flight had 60 passengers and four crew members
- Captain Jonathan Campos : Pilot of Flight 5342
- First Officer Samuel “Sam” Lilley age 28 of Georgia: First Officer of Flight 5342
- Ian Epstein age 53: Flight attendant
- Danasia Elder : Flight attendant, and a mother of two.
Our Community Members Aboard Flight 2342:
- Michael “Mikey” Stovall age 40 of Waldorf
- Jesse Pitcher age 30 of Calvert County
- Jonathan D. Boyd age 40 of St. Mary’s County
- Alexander “Alex” Huffman age 34 of Leonardtown
- Charles “Charlie” McDaniel age 44 of Calvert County
- Olivia Ter, age 12, and her mother Olesya. Olivia was a rising skater with the support of her mother.
Figure Skating Community:
- Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov: Former world champion Russian pair skaters and coaches at the Skating Club of Boston.
- Jinna Han, age 13, and her mother Jin Han: Both from Massachusetts
- Spencer Lane, age 16, and his mother Christine Lane, age 49 : Both from Rhode Island, a promising skater and member of the Skating Club of Boston
- Donna and Peter Livingston, and their two children Everly and Alydia: “The ice skating sisters”
- Alexandr “Sasha” Kirsanov: Figure skating coach along with two of his young students Sean Kay and Angela Yang, all from Delaware
- Julia Kay, mother of Sean Kay
- Inna Volyanskaya: Renowned ice-skating coach and member at the Washington Figure Skating Club
- Edward age 16, Kaiyan and Joe Zhou: Edward age 16, was a member of the Skating Club of Northern Virginia and the Ashburn Ice House community
- Franco Aparicio age 13 and his father Luciano Aparicio: Member of the Washington Figure Skating Club
- Brielle Beyer, 12: Figure skater, and her mother Justyna Beyer, 42
Identified victims
- Elizabeth Anne Keys: Law associate
- Sarah Lee Best: Law associate
- Kiah Duggins: An attorney, a professor at Howard University and former Miss Kansas contestant.
- Asra Hussain Raza, 26: Washington, D.C.-based consultant.
- Melissa Jane Nicandri age 28 of New York
- Colonel Pergentino Malabed, Jr.: Head of Supply Management Division of the Philippine National Police
- Wendy Shaffer: Mother of two from Charlotte, North Carolina.
- Casey Crafton of Connecticut: Youth Soccer Coach and Father of Three
- Bob Schrock and Linda Schrock
- Vikesh Patel: Aerospace Engineer
- Linsey Fields: Kansas Biology Teacher, and president-elect of the National Association of Biology Teachers.
- Grace Maxwell age 20: Cedarville University student from Wichita, Kansas.
This tragedy has deeply affected numerous communities, including figure skating, aviation, and various professional circles.
Further updates will be provided when they become available. Our thoughts are with the families and friends of all the victims during this difficult time.
Supporting links for families in our community.
Hunt Club GoFundMe for the 7 Southern Maryland Families – https://gofund.me/83c147dc
GoFundMe for the Stovall Family – https://gofund.me/d252ccc3
Meal Train for the Prewitt Family – https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/yrmzkm
GoFundMe for the Prewitt Family – https://gofund.me/87f84839
Meal Train for the Clagett Girls – https://mealtrain.com/ddql1l
Meal Train for the McDaniel Family – https://mealtrain.com/178273
GoFundMe for Reed (Kristie Baxter) – https://gofund.me/b5104461
GoFundMe for the Huffman Family – https://gofund.me/bdd819f7
Huntin’ with Jacob Gun Raffle to benefit the 7 Families – https://huntinwithjacob.com/product/montefeltro-shotgun/
Logo Credit: Candy Meyers.
UPDATE 1/30/2025: “Around 9 p.m. on Wednesday evening, emergency personnel at Reagan National Airport initiated their response to a crash between a passenger aircraft, identified by the FAA as American Eagle flight 5342, and a Sikorsky helicopter. Mutual aid from neighboring agencies were called to assist, and takeoffs and landings at the airport were halted for the remainder of the evening. We will continue to post information as it becomes available.”
“We are not expecting flights to resume until at least 11 a.m. today (Thursday). We will update if this changes.”
Law enforcement officials stated there are confirmed fatalities, although they did not specify how many, no known survivors have been recovered so far.
According to DC Mayor Bowser, there were 64 people on board the airplane, with three soldiers in the U.S. Army Sikorsky UH-60 helicopter.
Joint Task Force-National Capital Region confirmed the Blackhawk helicopter was on a training flight, and is based out of Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
The FAA has stated the passenger plane was American Airlines Flight 5342 which is operated by PSA airlines, and was traveling from Wichita, Kansas to Reagan National Airport.
The airplane was identified as a Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet, when it collided midair with the U.S Army UH-60 helicopter as it approached the runway.
Roads new the Fort McNair Fire Station and Buzzard Point are CLOSED – Closures include:
- Potomac Avenue from South Capitol Street to 2nd Street, SW
- 2nd Street from Q Street to V Street, SW
- First Street from Q Street to V Street, SW
- Half Street from Q Street to V Street, SW
- V Street from 2nd Street to Half Street, SW
