World champion figure skaters, a pilot planning his wedding and teenage skaters seen as the “future of the sport” are among the 67 victims of the deadly midair collision between a commercial jet and a US Army helicopter near Washington.
Here is what we know about some of the victims:
Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov
Russian-born Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who were married, won the world championship in pairs figure skating in 1994 and had coached at The Skating Club of Boston since 2017.
“They were talented and beautiful people,” said Ludmila Velikova, who trained them in St Petersburg when they were children.
“Zhenya (Shishkova) trained with me from the age of 11 and Vladik (Naumov) from age 14. They were like my own children.”
The couple’s son, Maxim, also a skater, finished in fourth place in the men’s free skate at the US national championships last week. He left Wichita after the competition and was not on the crashed plane.
Skating club Executive Director, Doug Zeghibe, described Vadim Naumov as an “old-school” coach who applied the strict “Russian method” to his students.
“You could not see Genia without breaking into a smile,” he said, using a nickname for Shishkova.
Spencer Lane and Jinna Han
In 2022, Spencer Lane watched Nathan Chen, the superstar US figure skater, win a gold medal at the Olympic Games and decided he wanted to take up skating too, his father, Douglas Lane, told WPRI television in Rhode Island.
Three years later, the 16-year-old had proven to be a prodigy, qualifying for an elite national training camp in Wichita, Kansas reserved for young athletes that The Skating Club of Boston’s Executive Director, Doug Zeghibe, described as “the future of the sport”.
“He just loved it,” Spencer’s father said. “There wasn’t anyone pushing him. He was just somebody who loved it and had natural talent but also just worked every day.”
“He was all-in on figure skating,” Douglas Lane added.
Doug Zeghibe, of The Skating Club of Boston, is emotional as he pays tribute to two of those who died
Shortly before taking off, Spencer posted a photo of the wing of the plane on Instagram, according to media reports.
In another post, he said that qualifying for the camp had been a longtime goal and the training was an “amazing experience”.
Jinna Han, 13, had also qualified for the camp, which followed last week’s US National Figure Skating Championship in Kansas.
Both Spencer and Jinna trained almost every day at the Skating Club of Boston in Norwood, Massachusetts, according to the club’s director.
Doug Zeghibe described Jinna as a “wonderful kid”.
“Wonderful parents, great athlete, great competitor, loved by all,” he added.
Spencer’s mother, Christine, and Jinna’s mother, Jin, were also on the plane.
Both were “role model parents” who made a lot of sacrifices to help their children excel in the sport, Mr Zeghibe said.
The Lane family live in Rhode Island and the Han family in the Boston area.
The Livingston family
Everly and Alydia Livingston – aged 14 and 11 respectively – known on social media as the “Ice Skating Sisters” – were among those killed in the crash, according to the Kansas City Star newspaper.
Their parents, Peter and Donna, were also on the plane.
Alydia was the youngest of the several skaters on the flight and “was known for her vivacious personality and strong desire to improve on the ice” according to a tribute posted on the Facebook page of The Skating Lesson, a forum aimed at educating athletes and fans about the skating community.
Everly “was shy and reserved compared to her sister, yet came alive on the ice – becoming a sectional champion at the intermediate and juvenile levels,” according to the post.
The family lived in Ashburn, Virginia, and was among the many skaters on the plane attending the US National Figure Skating Championships in Wichita last week.
Skating organisations in Philadelphia and the Washington area also said some of their young athletes had been on the plane.
Asra Hussain Raza
Asra Hussain Raza, 26, sent a text to her husband, Hamaad, from the doomed flight as they approached Washington, saying she would land in about 20 minutes.
Hamaad, 25, waiting at the airport for her arrival and never received another message, his father, Hashim Raza, said.
“Asra was everything to us,” Hashim Raza, holding back tears with a quavering voice, said as he travelled from Missouri to Washington to meet his son.
“Now my son is a widower at 25. What do I say to him? They planned to have children, they were so much looking forward to that.”
The couple met at Indiana University Bloomington, where she studied corporate finance and was a straight-A student.
Members embrace at The Skating Club of Boston
Hashim Raza said when his son first met Asra, he declared: “I’m going to marry her”.
She later earned her master’s degree in public health from Columbia University and got a job with a consulting group in Washington, with the ultimate goal of working for the government to improve public health, her father-in-law said.
“All she wanted to do was help people, and DC, she thought, was the place to achieve her goals.
“She was such a great cook – Indian, Italian, Chinese food. I told her to open a restaurant.”
She travelled to Wichita about once or twice a month to help transform a hospital, he said.
“She was an extremely caring person,” Hashim said. “She’d call just to say, ‘I love you”.
Sam Lilley, Ian Epstein, Jonathon Campos, Danasia Elder
Sam Lilley, 28, was one of two pilots on the plane, serving as the first officer, his father said in a Facebook post.
“I was so proud when Sam became a pilot,” wrote Timothy Lilley, himself a pilot, who was in New York at the time of the crash. “Now it hurts so bad I can’t even cry myself to sleep.”
Sam was engaged to be married later this year, his father added. The Lilley family has ties to Savannah, Georgia, reported FOX 5 Atlanta.
“This is undoubtedly the worst day of my life,” Timothy told the television station.
Flight attendant Ian Epstein was an outgoing person who loved his job, his ex-wife, Debi Epstein, told the Charlotte Observer newspaper.
“He made flying fun for the passengers on the plane so they didn’t get scared. He was always the jokester and just doing the announcements with the twist.”
Ian had two daughters, including one who is to be married in eight weeks, Debi said.
Jonathan Campos was the captain of the plane and Danasia Elder was the second flight attendant, according to media reports.
Wendy Shaffer
Wendy Shaffer, who lived in Charlotte, devoted her life to her family, including her two small children, aged one and three, according to friends.
Bill Melugin, a Fox News correspondent and a friend of the family, confirmed her death and posted a statement from Wendy’s husband, Nate, on X.
“Wendy was not just beautiful on the outside, but was a truly amazing woman through and through.
“She was the best wife, mother, and friend that anyone could ever hope for. Her love, kindness, and strength touched everyone she met.”
A GoFundMe page set up to raise money for her family described her as a “radiant soul”.
“Wendy was the heart of her family – a loving partner to her husband and a nurturing, joyful mother to her children,” the fundraiser’s organisers wrote.
“Her boys were her greatest pride and joy, and she dreamed of watching them grow into the amazing individuals she knew they would become.”
Ryan O’Hara
Ryan O’Hara was one of three soldiers on board the Black Hawk helicopter, a US official confirmed.
He attended Parkview High School in Gwinnett County, Georgia, where he had been a member of a programme that trains high school students for military service.
In a Facebook post, the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), said: “Ryan is fondly remembered as a guy who would fix things around the ROTC gym as well as a vital member of the Rifle Team.”
Ryan had a wife and a one-year-old son, the post said.
Inna Volyanskaya
Russian-born Inna Volyanskaya, a skating coach in the Washington area, was on board the plane, according to a post on X from US Representative Suhas Subramanyam and a report from the Russian news agency TASS.
Inna competed as a pairs skater for the Soviet Union in the 1980s. She coached young skaters at the Washington Figure Skating Club, according to the club’s website.
In a statement, the club did not confirm whether any member or coach was on the flight but said it was “devastated” by news of the crash.
Grace Maxwell
Cedarville University in Ohio said one of the passengers on the plane was Grace Maxwell, who was studying mechanical engineering.
Grace’s father, Dean Maxwell, said she was returning to campus from her home in Wichita, Kansas, after attending her grandfather’s funeral, The Wichita Eagle reported.
Grace had been working on project to create a hand-stabilising device to help a boy in the area feed himself instead of rely on others, the university said in a statement.
“Grace was a quiet person with a keen interest in helping others through engineering,” said Tim Norman, who served as her secondary advisor.
Three other students from schools in Fairfax County, Virginia, and six parents from the district were also on board the plane, superintendent Michelle Reid said in a letter to families.
She did not identify them, but said the students were from different schools and that two of the parents were current or former district staffers.
Pergentino Malabed Jnr
Philippine Police Colonel Pergentino Malabed Jnr, who headed the supply management division of the national police, was among the dead.
He had travelled to the US to inspect equipment the Philippines was planning to purchase for its 232,000-member force, according to the Philippine police.
“His untimely passing is a profound loss to the Philippine National Police, where he served with honour, with integrity and dedication throughout his career,” police spokesperson Colonel Randulf Tuano said in a statement.
The Chinese Embassy in the US said two Chinese nationals were also among the victims but did not offer further details.
The country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs offered its condolences for the crash victims and requested the US to “promptly report any progress with the search and rescue, and find out the cause of the accident as soon as possible”.
Hunters headed home from a trip
Seven people returning from a guided hunting trip in Kansas were killed, according to a Facebook post by Fowl Plains, the guide service.
The Fowl Plains team said they had grown close to the hunters on board the flight over the years and considered them to be family members.
The post does not identify the hunters by name, but it says they had spent the past week on a guided hunt, “laughing, talking about our families and sharing memories”.
“Heartbroken is an understatement,” the company said.
Members of a Maryland union
Those killed also included four steamfitters, all members of a United Association union local in suburban Maryland, union leaders said in a social media post.
“Our focus now is on providing support and care to the families of our brothers as we continue to gather more information in the coming days,” said the post by UA General President Mark McManus and Chris Madello, the business manager of Local 602.
Andrew Eaves
The three soldiers killed on board the Black Hawk helicopter included experienced pilot Andrew Eaves.
His wife Carrie Eaves said in a Facebook post: “We ask that you pray for our family and friends and for all the other families that are suffering today. We ask for peace while we grieve.”
The three soldiers were doing an annual night proficiency training flight, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said, adding they were a “fairly experienced crew”.
Officials were notifying relatives, he said.
