As D.C. plane crash victims are identified, stories emerge of a new dad, a law professor, champion skating coaches and rising stars
World champion skaters, a consultant who just moved to the D.C. area, a crew chief who was a new dad, champion figure skating coaches and rising skating stars were among those killed in the midair collision between an American Airlines plane and an Army helicopter over Washington, D.C.
Sixty passengers and four Charlotte-based crew members were on American Eagle flight 5342, en route from Wichita, Kansas, and three crew members were aboard the Black Hawk helicopter when they collided a little before 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 29.
Investigators are still working to learn what went wrong on a clear evening when the passenger plane was just a few hundred feet from landing at Reagan Washington National Airport. Officials said there were no survivors — and details about the 67 victims began to emerge.
The passengers included several young figure skaters chasing their dream of becoming world-class competitors. The athletes were returning from the National Development Camp, which was held in connection with the recent U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita. The Skating Club of Boston confirmed they lost six people in the deadly crash, including two rising stars in the figure skating world, their mothers, and two star coaches.
We are also learning more about others aboard the flight, as well as the crew of the Black Hawk. Here are some of their stories.
Capt. Rebecca Lobach
The Army identified one of three soldiers aboard the Army Black Hawk helicopter as 28-year-old Capt. Rebecca Lobach. She had served as an aviation officer in the Army since July 2019 and also worked as a White House aide in the Biden administration, officials said.
Lobach was a native of Durham, North Carolina, and enlisted in the North Carolina Army National Guard while in college in December 2018, a friend, 1st Lt. Samantha Brown, told CBS News.
She attended Sewanee: The University of the South, where she played basketball, and then later the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she completed a degree in biology in 2019 as a distinguished military graduate, according to Brown.
Lobach's family in a statement released through the Army described her as a "bright star in all our lives. She was kind, generous, brilliant, funny, ambitious and strong."
Ryan O'Hara
Ryan O'Hara, 28, was the crew chief on the Black Hawk helicopter. He grew up in the Atlanta area and was a new father, leaving behind a wife and 1-year-old baby boy.
His father, Gary O'Hara, told CBS News that Ryan joined his high school's ROTC as a cadet and enlisted when he was 18, specifically choosing the Army because it offered him the opportunity to work on Black Hawk helicopters.
After a tour of duty in Afghanistan, he was assigned to Fort Belvoir in Virginia, just outside the nation's capital.
"I was worried when he was in Afghanistan," his father said in an emotional interview. "You let your guard down … when he's on American soil."
He described the crew of the Black Hawk as "probably the most respected pilots that Ryan had ever flown with."
"He trusted them with his life," Gary O'Hara said.
He said he began to worry immediately after seeing news of the crash Wednesday night.
"My wife was like, 'No, it's not him,'" he said. "But my heart just broke."
Andrew Eaves
The Army confirmed that Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Eaves was killed in the crash. He served as a UH-60 helicopter pilot for the Army since Sept. 2017, and before that served 10 years in the U.S. Navy.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves said Eaves was a native of Brooksville, Mississippi. His wife, Carrie Eaves, confirmed in a Facebook post that he was one of the pilots of the Black Hawk helicopter.
"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," she wrote.
Jonathan Campos
Jonathan Campos, 34, was the pilot on the American Airlines flight. He grew up in Brooklyn and had dreamed of being a pilot since childhood, longtime friends told CBS News New York.
His ex-fiancée Nicole Suissa, who says they were high school sweethearts, remembers him as a bright and ambitious student with a taste for adventure. "He's being publicized for how he died. But really, this was the boy who taught me how to live. He was good at it," she said.
Lane Rosen, a retired high school teacher, stayed in touch with Campos for years after having him in class.
"I remember him from taking every science class that the school had to offer. I believe he took seven science classes in three or four years," Rosen said.
Danasia Brown Elder
Danasia Brown Elder was one of the flight attendants aboard the plane, and a wife and mother of two.
Her friends and family told CBS News New York she grew up on Coney Island and moved to North Carolina after her mother died.
Three loved ones who are part of a large, tight-knit group of extended family and friends told the station they're devastated to learn of her loss.
Spencer Lane and Christine Lane
Skating phenom Spencer Lane, 16, and his mom Christine Lane were on their way home to Rhode Island from the development camp.
Douglas Lane spoke to Rhode Island station WPRI after the crash that claimed his wife and son, and called Spencer a "force of nature."
"In his home club in Boston, he was just loved by everyone from the adults running to club to the smallest skaters to the people that are competing for a shot at the Olympics, they all just adored him," he said.
He described his wife Christine as a creative person with a passion for graphic design and photography.
"For Christine, just the amount of people from the community in Rhode Island I've already heard from today that she's touched," he said. "Whether it was screening them to adopt the dog that they loved or helping them with a summer project or whatever, she was just one of those people that could just kind of plug in anywhere, connect with people and build a real bond."
Jinna Han and Jin Han
Another skater from the Boston club,13-year-old Jinna Han, was killed in the crash along with her mother, Jin. They were from Mansfield, Massachusetts, CBS News Boston reported.
Jinna had also been participating in the National Development Camp, an invitation-only event that brings together promising young athletes for training sessions led by some of the sport's biggest names.
"Jinna, just a wonderful kid. Wonderful parents. Great competitor. Loved by all," said Skating Club of Boston CEO Doug Zeghibe.
"I don't think we're ever going to forget them. That is for certain. How we commemorate them here we haven't gotten to that point to discuss, but we certainly will. Just definitely very important and well loved members of our community," he said.
Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova
Star coaches Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova were also returning from the development camp. The Russian-born pair — who won the 1994 World Figure Skating Championship — had been coaching at the Skating Club of Boston.
They also competed in the Olympics twice — in 1992 in Albertville, France, where they placed fifth, and in 1994 in Lillehammer, Norway, where they finished fourth.
The couple's 23-year-old son, Maxim Naumov, currently competes with Team USA. Zeghibe said Max had finished fourth in the senior men's event in Wichita and returned home on Monday with Zeghibe.
"We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims' families closely in our hearts," U.S. Figure Skating said in a statement Thursday.
Alexandr Kirsanov
A coach from the University of Delaware Figure Skating Club, Alexandr Kirsanov, 46, was confirmed as a victim of the crash, according to the University of Delaware and Kirsanov's employer, Black Bear Sports Group. He was also traveling back from the development camp.
"In his many years with Ice World, Sasha coached, mentored, and made such an incredible impact not only on our young skaters but on so many who knew and loved him," Black Bear Sports Group founder and CEO Murry Gunty said in a statement.
Olivia Ter
Olivia Ter, 12, a youth figure skater from Prince George's County, Maryland, was aboard the flight at the time of the crash, according to the county's Parks and Recreation Department, CBS News Baltimore reported. She was returning with other skaters from the National Development Camp and aspired to qualify for a spot on Team USA in the world championships.
"The impact of Olivia's life will continue to resonate in our youth sports community, and she will be sorely missed," said Bill Tyler, the director of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission for the Prince George's Department of Parks and Recreation.
Asra Hussain Raza
Asra Hussain Raza was 26 years old and had recently moved to the Washington, D.C., area with her husband for a consulting job. She was flying home from a work trip to Kansas, her father-in-law, Hashim Raza, told CBS News.
She was a graduate of the University of Indiana and Columbia University, her father-in-law said.
Kiah Duggins
Howard University law professor Kiah Duggins was killed in the crash, university president Ben Vison confirmed Friday, CBS News Baltimore reported.
Duggins was also a civil rights attorney with the nonprofit Civil Rights Corps, according to a profile on the organization's website.
She earned her bachelor's from Wichita State University and won the Miss Augusta and the Miss Butler County beauty pageants in 2014 and 2015, making it to the top 10 finalists in the Miss Kansas pageants those years, according to the executive director of the Miss Kansas Organization.
Elizabeth Anne Keys
Elizabeth Anne Keys, a 33-year-old woman from Cincinnati, was a graduate of Tufts University and Georgetown University Law Center, CBS affiliate WKRC reported. Keys was valedictorian of her class at Madeira High School in Cincinnati in 2010.
"She was just such an outstanding student, outstanding young lady, just the kind of person that we need many, many more of," former Madeira principal Ray Spicher told the station. "What a quality young lady she was, a leader around school, involved in all kinds of activities."
Sarah Lee Best
Sarah Lee Best, an attorney at Wilkinson Stekloff, died in the crash, the law firm said in a statement to CBS News.
"Sarah joined us just last fall and quickly energized us all with her boundless curiosity, kindness, and intelligence," said Beth Wilkinson, the firm's lead counsel.
Best was traveling with Elizabeth Anne Keys.
Samuel Lilly
Samuel Lilley, the first officer on the flight, was killed in the collision, his father, Tim Lilley, told CBS News.
In a social media post, his father said that he was "so proud" of his son when he became a pilot. Tim said Samuel was engaged to be married in the fall.
"It is so devastating to lose someone that is loved so much," Tim Lilley wrote in the post.
Casey Crafton
Casey Crafton, a father of three from Salem, Connecticut, was among the victims of the plane crash, according to Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont and Connecticut state Senator Martha Marx. Crafton is survived by his wife, Rachel, and their three sons.
The Montville Youth Soccer Club described "Coach Casey" as a "valued volunteer," while the local Little League team said he was "deeply involved in all things Salem."
Inna Volyanskaya
Inna Volyanskaya, an ice-skating coach, was among those killed in the crash, according to Rep. Suhas Subramanyam of Virginia.
Volyanskaya, who was born in Russia, was a coach with the Washington Figure Skating Club, according to the club's website.
The Livingston family
Skaters Everly and Alydia Livingston, along with their parents Donna and Peter Livingston, "passed away together as a family" on January 29, 2025, aboard American Airlines Flight 5342, according to a statement from their family. Peter, a realtor, and Donna, a marketing executive at Comcast, both 48, dedicated countless hours to the development of their daughters' skating, the family said.
Peter, a hockey enthusiast, created an ice rink in the backyard to teach the girls how to skate. It was the first of what became an annually constructed backyard rink, and the birth of Everly and Alydia's primary passion: figure skating, the family said. The sisters competed all across the country and dreamed of competing in the Olympics.
The sisters skated at the Ashburn Ice House and were members of the Washington Figure Skating Club.
Social media posts show that Everly and Alydia were attending the National Development Camp in Wichita.
"The Livingston family was devoted to the girls' figure skating and spent their final days together immersed in what they loved," the statement said.
Ian Epstein
Family members of Ian Epstein, a flight attendant on the plane, confirmed to CBS News that he died in the collision.
"Ian Epstein was full of life," his family wrote in a statement sent to CBS News by his sister, Robbie Bloom. "He loved being a flight attendant because he truly enjoyed traveling and meeting new people. But his true love was his family. He was a father, a stepfather, a husband and a brother!"
The Haynos family
Skater Cory Haynos was killed on board the flight along with his parents, Stephanie and Roger, a close family friend told CBS News. Cory was a member of the Skating Club of Northern Virginia and was attending the development camp in Wichita.
Vikesh Patel
Vikesh Patel, a GE Aerospace employee, was among those killed in the crash, the company confirmed to CBS News in a statement.
"This is a tragedy not only for our industry, but also for the GE Aerospace team as one of our cherished colleagues, Vikesh Patel, was onboard the flight. Our hearts are with his family and all those impacted by this horrific accident," Larry Culp, SGE Aerospace chair and CEO, said in a statement.
Four local union members
The plane crash victims included four members of the Steamfitters Local 602 union, which represents workers in heating, air conditioning, refrigeration and process piping industries in the D.C. metro area.
The union did not release their names, but said in a statement, "Our focus now is on providing support and care to the families of our Brothers. ... We will share more details as they becomes available, including a nationwide UA relief effort for the families. These members will be forever in our hearts, and may God bless them and their loved ones."
Chris Collins
Chris Collins, a financial professional, who was "a true adventurer with a passion for the outdoors" died in the plane crash his family confirmed to CBS News.
"Our family is devastated by the loss of Chris, our beloved husband, son, brother, and uncle," his family said.
His employer Moody's also confirmed Collin's death saying in a statement: "The Moody's family mourns the loss of two of our best, Chris Collins and Melissa Nicandri, who tragically lost their lives on American Airline Flight 5342. Chris and Melissa were cherished colleagues who embodied our values and enriched our lives with kindness and warmth."
Collins grew up in North Dighton, Massachusetts but moved to New York City when he met and married his wife Jen. Every chance he had, his family said, he would head to the great outdoors for hiking, camping or skiing. He also loved dogs and spent time volunteering to walk rescue dogs — which brought him great joy.
He is survived by his parents, brother and wife.
Grace Maxwell
College student Grace Maxwell died in the plane crash while traveling back to campus after a trip home, according to Cedarville University, the Christian school she attended in southwest Ohio. She had gone back to Wichita for her grandfather's funeral before she boarded the flight, according to the university.
Maxwell was a junior who majored in mechanical engineering with a minor in biomedical engineering, officials at the school said in remarks about her death.
"This is heartbreaking news for her family and for our campus community," the university said in a statement.
An active member of student life both in and outside the classroom, Maxwell was a grader for the mechanical engineering faculty and intended to work on a hand-stabilizing device for a boy with disabilities, "a project that embodied both her technical talent and compassionate heart," school officials said. She also served as a DJ and personality for the student radio station, Resound Radio, and belonged to a creative writing group called The Inklings.
Maxwell's friends "remember her as a joyful, caring friend who loved playing games, sharing stories and encouraging those around her," according to the school. A mechanical engineering professor, Tim Norman, described her as "a quiet person with a keen interest in helping others through engineering."
The university said Maxwell's father "asked the Cedarville community for prayers as the family navigates this devastating loss."
This story will be updated with additional information as it becomes available.
