By now, you have likely heard about the tragic collision of American Airlines Flight 5342 with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter over Washington, DC, here in the United States. The crash claimed the lives of everyone aboard both vessels and, notably, included a large number of athletes, coaches, and family members from our beloved figure skating community.
The airline flight, traveling from Wichita, Kansas, to Ronald Reagan airport in DC, was intended to be the return home trip for many from the US Skating Federation’s National Development Camp. This camp, held immediately after the US National Championships each year, is a coveted training opportunity for rising talent in juvenile and novice figure skating.
The athletes on this plane were young and promising, likely stars of the future, accompanied by supportive parents and veteran coaches. Two of those coaches were former Olympians and world champions.
The loss of every life on board is a senseless, incalculable tragedy. For the figure skating community, which is small, tight-knit, and heavily interconnected, it is a wound not easily healed. Athletes and coaches from around the world have trained and worked at the skating clubs impacted by the crash. They know these names, have shared the ice with the kids and the adults.
Flight 5342 stole not only the lives of its passengers, and the joy of their existence from their family and friends, but also the institutional knowledge and experience of those coaches. The dreams and careers of those young skaters. A significant portion of figure skating’s future vanished in a moment.
It feels trivial to talk about sport in the wake of such horrific news. To fret about the future of an athletic program, or to focus on our own grief as fans of the sport and the people involved in it. But the shock and pain of this takes its toll on the fandom, the domestic and global community, and everyone else even tangentially connected to the world of skating. We all keenly experience this loss, together, even knowing that our grief is nothing compare to the life shattering and altering damage done to those closest to the victims.
Fundraisers
Several memorial funds have been set up, by the US skating federation and affected skating clubs, to support the surviving families:
U.S. Figure Skating Family Support Fund
Capitol Skating Fund Flight 5342 Memorial
Brielle and Justyna Go Fund Me
Remembering Genia and Vadim with Love
Remembering Sasha Kirsanov: In Our Hearts Always
In Loving Memory of Lily Li and Angela Yang
Linktree from @divyaharriet collecting all fundraising
Additionally, Jackie Wong of Rocker Skating is donating all of this season’s proceeds from his online store to a victim support fund:
Remembering Those We’ve Lost
For most of us, all we can do is work to comfort each other, support those most greatly impacted, and honor, love, and remember the bright and brilliant lives we have lost.
We want to name everyone we’re aware of from our community who perished on Flight 5342.
Tragedy has a way of eclipsing the identity of the victims, and we want to make sure that their names remain in our hearts and minds. That their stories are more than just sorrow and loss, but celebrations of the people they were, the lives they lived, the dreams they pursued, the great things they did and would have done.
These are the names of those we know were on Flight 5342. (Our heartfelt apology if we’ve missed anyone.)
Franco Aparicio — figure skater, age 13
Luciano Aparicio — father of Franco Aparicio
Inna Volyanskaya — figure skating coach to Franco Aparicio
Brielle Beyer — figure skater, age 12
Justyna Beyer — mother of Brielle Beyer
Jinna Han — figure skater, age 13
Jin Han — mother of Jinna Han
Cory Haynos — figure skater, age 16
Stephanie Haynos — mother of Cory Haynos
Roger Haynos — father of Cory Haynos
Sean Kay — figure skater, age 11
Julia Kay — mother of Sean Kay
Angela Yang — figure skater, age 11
Lily Yang — mother of Angela Yang
Alexandr Kirsanov — coach of Sean Kay and Lily Yang
Spencer Lane — figure skater, age 16
Christine Lane — mother of Spencer Lane
Everly Livingston — figure skater, age 14
Alydia Livingston — figure skater, age 11
Peter Livingston — father of Alydia Livingston and Everly Livingston
Donna Livingston — mother of Alydia Livingston and Everly Livingston
Vadim Naumov — former Olympian, figure skating coach
Evgenia Shishkova — former Olympian, figure skating coach
Olivia Eve Ter — figure skater, age 12
Oleysa Ter — mother of Olivia Eve Ter
Edward Zhou — figure skater, age 16
Joe Zhou — father of Edward Zhou
Kaiyan Zhou — fother of Edward Zhou
