They were minutes away from landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C., when their plane collided with an Army helicopter over the Potomac River.
In a horrible flash captured on video and seen around the world, the fates of all 60 passengers and four crew members aboard American Eagle Flight 5342 and the three soldiers on the Black Hawk helicopter were sealed.
“At this point, I don’t believe we are going to find any survivors,” Washington, D.C., Fire Chief John Donnelly said Thursday after a frantic but futile search for survivors of the Wednesday night collision.
The plane’s passengers included more than a dozen people returning from a training camp following the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas, where the flight originated.
Two Chinese nationals were also on board, the Chinese Embassy in Washington said, citing preliminary information. The embassy did not identify the .
Edwards said the flight was supposed to be Brown’s last before changing careers within American Airlines.
Ian Epstein was a flight attendant on the plane, his sister, Robbie Epstein Bloom, confirmed.
“He loved being a flight attendant because he truly enjoyed traveling and meeting new people,” Bloom said in a statement. “But his true love was his family. He was a father, a stepfather, a husband and a brother! He will be truly missed.”
Captain Jonathan Campos was also killed. Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University said it was “deeply saddened” by his
Pilot Jonathan Campos.Courtesy Sonia Carrasquillo
Young figure skaters were among the passengers
Spencer Lane and Jinna Han, both 16, were promising skaters at The Skating Club of Boston in Norwood, Massachusetts. They were flying with their mothers, Christine Lane and Jin Han.
Lane got his start at Warwick Figure Skaters in Rhode Island, which posted a memorial on its Facebook page.
“He was always a bright light at our rink,” it read, in part. “He was in love with the sport from the beginning and it showed. He was always excited to be on the ice and was a joy to watch.”
&Among those killed were Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov who trained young skaters at the Boston skating club, Zeghibe said.
Together, the two won a 1994 world championship in pairs figure skating. They also competed in the Olympics twice, placing fifth at the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, France, and fourth at the 1994 Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway.
But their pride and joy was their 24-year-old son, Maxim Naumov, who had competed in Wichita and had taken an earlier flight home, Zeghibe said.
Shishkova, who had been coaching at the club for more than 20 years, was too nervous to watch her son compete, Zeghibe said. That left Naumov to cheer his son on as he came in fourth place.
